The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick.

Meaning: Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur into one mass.

Language: English

Literally: The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick.

Category: Fiendish

Origin: Recorded as the hardest English tongue twister in early Guinness Book of Records editions.

More tongue twisters — Fiendish

غاب الغيم وغابت غابة الغاب. (Ghāb al-ghaym wa ghābat ghābat al-ghāb.) — An unbroken sequence of 'gh' (غ) — a voiced uvular fricative that drills the back of the…
Chandu ke chacha ne Chandu ki chachi ko chandi ki chamach se chatni chatayi. — A 'ch' symphony from start to finish — Hindi's palatal affricate in every single word.
Sju sjösjuka sjömän skötte sjuttiosju sjösjuka sjölejon på skeppet Shanghai. — An unstoppable 'sj/sk/sh' onslaught — the Swedish sj-sound (a unique voiceless fricative)…
Appilan pappilan apupapin papupata pankolla kiehuu ja kuohuu. — A relentless 'pap/pap/pu' bilabial drill stacked with Finnish double consonants.
Setze jutges d'un jutjat mengen fetge d'un penjat. — The famous 'j / tg / tj' test for the voiced sound Spanish lacks — a true Catalan shibbol…
Barbara Ara bar Ara araba bara rabarbara. — An unbroken 'bar / ara / rab' roll built almost entirely from the same handful of syllabl…

Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. — A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.
She sells seashells by the seashore. — The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. — A relentless 'p' plosive drill; a peck is an old dry measure of about nine litres.
Unique New York. — Three words that jam the 'y/n/k' sequence together — repeat it and it collapses into 'you…
Pad kid poured curd pulled cod. — Alternating repetition — the consonants swap at the start of every other word, which is w…
Red lorry, yellow lorry. — The 'l/r' alternation drill — deceptively short, yet almost impossible to say fast withou…

Peau de vache — A mean, difficult, and unpleasant person — tough and unyielding like tanned hide.
Eres un aguafiestas — You're a killjoy — you pour cold water on everyone's fun the moment you arrive.
¡Qué cara más dura! — You've got incredible nerve and cheek — the audacity is almost impressive.