W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie i Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie.

Meaning: The opening of a poem by Julian Tuwim, now Poland's most-quoted tongue twister — the consonant clusters are legendary.

Literally: In Szczebrzeszyn a beetle buzzes in the reeds, and Szczebrzeszyn is famous for it.

Origin: From the 1938 poem Chrząszcz by Julian Tuwim; Szczebrzeszyn is a real town in eastern Poland.

More Polish tongue twisters

Stół z powyłamywanymi nogami. Six words, almost no vowels — a single noun phrase that non-Polish speakers find impossib…
Król Karol kupił królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego. Every word starts with k, and król/Karol/korale/koloru keep re-ordering the same handful…
Czy rak trzyma w szczypcach strzęp szczawiu? Four different Polish sibilant clusters — trz, szcz, strz, szcz — in a single short quest…
Ząb, zupa zębowa; dąb, zupa dębowa. Drills the nasal vowels ą and ę, which only differ from plain a and e by the nasal hum.

Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.

Na bezrybiu i rak ryba When there's nothing better, you make do with what you have.
Jak Kuba Bogu, tak Bóg Kubie You are treated the way you treat others.
Kradzione nie tuczy What is gained dishonestly brings no lasting good.

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