The only good tongue twisters are ones that lead to inadvertent swearing (i.e. @SamSam’s “pluckers”)
I don’t agree, crenquis – but I do grant you that the ones that are most difficult tend to be those where the errors result in unintended but legitimate words.
2 Likes
I saw this “pad kid” one mentioned elsewhere this past weekend, and I was surprised to find it pretty danged easy for me to say. Could be I was helped by a dose of cold medication, but like others above, this didn’t present me with a tenth the trouble that the “sixth sheik’s sick sheep” one does. I can usually do okay with many of the old classics like “toy boat” and “red leather yellow leather,” and though I hadn’t heard of “unique New York” before now, it presents me with no difficulty.
But that sheik one… man, I can’t even read it silently to myself without backing up three times.
Came here to say this. I don’t find the pad kid poured curd pulled cod one particularly hard at all.
@dnebdal : with Unique New York, people usually end up saying “you neek you nork”
Come to think of it, this seems to be a kind of thing. Something is utterly subjective, but thanks to the internet, Scientists/Experts/Researchers Reveal The Right Answer. Haven’t I seen this more than once?
My first thought too. I’ve never even been able to say that one slowly. Scientists fail.
Also, it’s "The sixth SICK Sheik’s . . . "
Of all the ones mentioned so far, Irish wristwatch has given me by far the most trouble. Most of these I can say repeatedly with no or little problem, but Irish wristwatch gets me every time.
2 Likes
You win 
Fascinating. As a Long Islander living in New England, I find this one moderately easy after the first few tries - with mixed results on the ones in the comments. The sheikh one has always gotten me.
Also, for really hard ones I find it difficult to think, or sometimes even read, the relevant phrase.
I wonder how much variation there is in whether people hear words when they read them - when I was learning Mandarin my teachers said they don’t (which makes sense, it’d be unnecessary and not even useful). I think I do so more than many, which may be why I remember and can pronounce fictional names I read in fantasy or sci-fi better than most of my friends.
Right - I end up with “you neak-knee york”.
And if we’re counting accents, I’m Norwegian.
(The most classic Norwegian is “Ibsens ripsbusker og andre buskvekster”. Those last-syllable Es tend to get reduced to near-nothing in pronunciation, which makes for some twisty consonant clusters.)
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
