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Questions tagged [tongue-twisters]

For questions about tongue twisters, which are alliterative sentences designed to be difficult to pronounce fluently and fluidly. A famous example is 'she sells seashells by the seashore'.

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2 answers
105 views

Is this tongue-twister grammatical?

The tongue-twister goes: Can a can of canned cans can a canned can of cans, if a can of canned cans can can a canned can of cans? Yes, a can of canned cans can can a canned can of cans, if a canned ...
SandieYT's user avatar
26 votes
6 answers
5k views

Did Peter Piper steal a peck of American pickled peppers?

In the children's renowned tongue twister, which was first published in London 1813, we learn Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter ...
Mari-Lou A's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
815 views

Meaning of the "don't spring on the inner-spring this spring or there will be an offspring next spring"

Today we encountered this tongue twister: Don't spring on the inner-spring this spring or there will be an offspring next spring Is there any meaning of it? Or it's just a tongue twister without ...
maxnk's user avatar
  • 109
2 votes
2 answers
11k views

schwa and /æ/ in 'can you can a can as a canner can can a can'

Can somebody tell me when the sounds 'schwa' and /æ/ are used in the following tongue twister: Can you can a can as a canner can can a can.
welcomeINhell's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

Connected speech in a tongue twister

A friend of mine just forwarded me a tongue twister. And I got curious about a possible relation with connected speech The pheasant plucker’s daughter sits plucking pheasants pleasantly Such a ...
user8469759's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Were tongue twisters meant for fun? Or were they intended for improving speech?

Of late, I have been reading and saying out loud a few tongue twisters in English after picking them up in one of the Facebook shares. While tongue twisters probably exist in all languages ever spoken,...
BiscuitBoy's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
486 views

Looking for a limerick, tongue twister or haiku [closed]

Has anyone come across a limerick, tongue twister or hai ku relating to the following words? pear, pair, pare Or does anyone want to make an attempt, something along the lines of "woodchuck chuck" ...
2 votes
2 answers
31k views

Rubber baby buggy bumpers [closed]

Can someone explain the meaning of the following tongue twister:Rubber baby buggy bumpers? I am familiar with the meaning of individual words, but am still not sure that I get the meaning of the whole ...
Byroteck's user avatar
  • 177
-1 votes
1 answer
582 views

Tongue Twisters

Why are tongue twisters difficult (slower) to read aloud than non-twisters? Why would reading twisters silently continue to be difficult?
Cheryl's user avatar
  • 9
8 votes
3 answers
4k views

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could if a woodchuck could chuck wood! What is the origin of this tongue-twister and ...
ermanen's user avatar
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