2

I am looking for a word to describe a word or a sentence that is hard to pronounce, in a situation that even you know the pronunciation but just can't control your tongue. Tongue-twister is the closest that I have come up with so far, but I wonder if there is an adjective.

I want a word that can fit into the blanks:

The script was so _________ that I had to pause and repeat a lot.

This rap is insanely ________.(a word more specific than "hard"/"difficult")

|improve this question
  • In the extreme, you could say it's unpronounceable. – Lawrence Mar 29 '16 at 3:13
  • 1
    The older question cannot be a duplicate because this question is not specifically looking for a noun, and the OP has already ruled out tongue-twister. – Mari-Lou A Mar 29 '16 at 7:59
  • If you edit and say you accept a phrase or an idiom, your questions stands a better chance of staying open. – Mari-Lou A Mar 29 '16 at 8:02
  • @JEL: none of the answers there are adjectives. – herisson Mar 29 '16 at 12:35
  • @JEL: Oops. Sorry, I completely missed that "break-teeth," "crack-jaw," and "cramp" were adjectives; I thought they were nouns for some reason. – herisson Mar 29 '16 at 19:46
2

Yeah, sometimes it’s just impossible to keep up to Tech N9ne’s machine gun flow, or Young Thug’s yips and yelps.
MTV.com

The Busta Rhymes's song entitled Can you Keep Up? is an exemplary rap song which is unpronounceable because of its sheer speed.

  • keep up vi (often with with) to move fast enough not to be left behind (by):
    Don't run — I can't keep up with you
    Chambers Universal Learners' Dictionary
  • unpronounceable adj (of a word or name) too difficult to say.
|improve this answer
  • 1
    would it not be more usual to say "impossible to keep up with rather than keep up to? – Charl E Mar 29 '16 at 9:51
  • @CharlE you're right. Well spotted but those are the exact words used on the MTV website. But the dictionary entry includes the preposition with. I might change the source/refence if I can find a better one – Mari-Lou A Mar 29 '16 at 10:45
1

Tongue-twisting is used as an adjective corresponding to tongue-twister; you can see examples of it further down the page here under the section "References in periodicals archive": http://thefreedictionary.com/tongue-twisting

You can also see some examples if you search on Google Books: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=tongue+twisting

One of the results is Six thick thumbs: a tongue-twisting tale, by Steve Charney and Michael Chesworth, where "Tongue-twisters form a tornado which sweeps over a little town and gives everyone except Tom the ability to recite tongue-twisters easily."

|improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.