Tongue twisterFiendish
Japanese
Japanese隣の客はよく柿食う客だ (Tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kuu kyaku da)
Meaning: A tricky spiral on ka/ki/ku that accelerates as you try to keep the syllables distinct.
Literally: The customer next door is a customer who often eats persimmons.
Origin: A staple of Japanese tongue-twister collections.
More Japanese tongue twisters
- なまむぎ なまごめ なまたまご (Nama mugi, nama gome, nama tamago) A nimble warm-up for the Japanese 'na / ma / ge' syllables.
- 東京特許許可局 (Tōkyō tokkyo kyokakyoku) A machine-gun of 'kyo' / 'kyoku' sounds.
- 赤パジャマ黄パジャマ茶パジャマ (Aka pajama, ki pajama, cha pajama) A rapid-fire drill on colour words; the syllable shift from aka/ki/cha trips the tongue b…
- 坊主が屏風に上手に坊主の絵を描いた (Bōzu ga byōbu ni jōzu ni bōzu no e o kaita) A sustained 'b' and long-vowel drill — bōzu/byōbu/jōzu demand precise mouth control.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- 早起きは三文の徳 (Hayaoki wa sanmon no toku) Getting up early brings benefits.
- 捨てる神あれば拾う神あり (Suteru kami areba hirou kami ari) When one door closes, another opens; someone will value what others reject.
- 親しき仲にも礼儀あり (Shitashiki naka ni mo reigi ari) Even with close friends and family, you must keep good manners.
Keep exploring