Editing Tongue twister (section)

== Types of tongue twisters ==
Some tongue twisters rely on rapid alternation between similar but distinct [[phoneme]]s (e.g., ''s'' {{IPA |[s]}} and ''sh'' {{IPA|[ʃ]}}), combining two different alternation patterns,<ref name=npr2013>{{Cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/12/06/249261289/speech-science-tongue-twisters-and-valley-girls |title=Speech Science: Tongue Twisters and Valley Girls |website=[[NPR]] |access-date=2018-04-05 |archive-date=2018-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402035500/https://www.npr.org/2013/12/06/249261289/speech-science-tongue-twisters-and-valley-girls |url-status=live }}</ref> familiar constructs in [[loanword]]s, or other features{{which|date=September 2016}} of a spoken language in order to be difficult to articulate.<ref name=npr2013 /> For example, the following sentence was said to be "the most difficult of common English-language tongue twisters" by [[William Poundstone]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://williampoundstone.net/Ultimate.html |title=The Ultimate |author=Poundstone, William |author-link=William Poundstone |work=williampoundstone.net |access-date=13 March 2010 |archive-date=21 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090521093908/http://williampoundstone.net/Ultimate.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|
The seething sea ceaseth and thus the seething sea sufficeth us.}}

These deliberately difficult expressions were popular in the 19th century. The popular "she sells seashells" tongue twister was originally published in 1850 as a diction exercise. The term "tongue twister" was first applied to this kind of expression in 1895.

"She sells seashells" was turned into a popular song in 1908, with words by British songwriter Terry Sullivan and music by [[Harry Gifford (songwriter)|Harry Gifford]]. According to folklore, it was said to be inspired by the life and work of [[Mary Anning]], an early fossil collector.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shelfari.com/books/5948724/The-Fossil-Hunter |title=The Fossil Hunter |author=Shelley Emmling |access-date=9 December 2010 |archive-date=24 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324084430/http://www.shelfari.com/books/5948724/The-Fossil-Hunter |url-status=live }}</ref> However, there is no evidence that Anning inspired either the tongue twister or the song.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2017/07/she-sells-seashells-and-mary-anning-metafolklore-with-a-twist/ |title=She Sells Seashells and Mary Anning: Metafolklore with a Twist |author=Stephen Winick |date=26 July 2017 |access-date=29 June 2018 |archive-date=29 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629023722/https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2017/07/she-sells-seashells-and-mary-anning-metafolklore-with-a-twist/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{poem quote|She sells sea-shells by the sea-shore.
The shells she sells are sea-shells, I'm sure.
For if she sells sea-shells by the sea-shore
Then I'm sure she sells sea-shore shells.}}

Another well-known tongue twister is "[[Peter Piper]]":

{{poem quote|Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked}}

Many tongue twisters use a combination of [[alliteration]] and [[rhyme]]. They have two or more sequences of [[sound]]s that require repositioning the tongue between syllables, then the same sounds are repeated in a different sequence.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} An example of this is the song "[[Betty Botter]]" ({{audio|En-Betty Botter.ogg|listen}}), first published in 1899:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wells |first=Carolyn |date=1899 |title=The Jingle Book |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24560 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112032231/https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24560 |archive-date=2014-11-12 |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=[[Project Gutenberg]]}}</ref>

{{poem quote|Betty Botter bought a bit of butter. "But," she said, "this butter's bitter!
If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter!"
So she bought a bit of butter better than her bitter butter,
And she put it in her batter, and her batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.}}

There are twisters that make use of [[compound word]]s and their [[Word stem|stems]], for example:

{{poem quote|[[How much wood would a woodchuck chuck]]
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck
if a woodchuck would chuck wood.}}

The following twister entered a contest in ''[[Games Magazine]]'' on the November/December 1979 issue and was announced the winner on the March/April 1980 issue:<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1979 |title=New Twist on Tongue Twisters |url=https://archive.org/details/Games-Magazine-November-December-1979-images/page/92/mode/2up |journal=[[Games Magazine]] |volume=3 |issue=14 |page=92 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1980 |title=Contest Results |url=https://archive.org/details/Games-Magazine-March-April-1980-images/page/64/mode/2up |journal=[[Games Magazine]] |volume=4 |issue=16 |page=64 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

{{poem quote|Shep Schwab shopped at Scott's [[Schnapps]] shop;
One [[Shooter (drink)|shot]] of Scott's Schnapps stopped Schwab's watch.}}

Some tongue twisters take the form of words or short phrases which become tongue twisters when repeated rapidly (the game is often expressed in the form "Say this phrase three (or five, or ten, etc.) times as fast as you can!").{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} Examples include:

* Toy boat
* Cricket critic
* Unique New York
* A proper copper coffee pot
* Red leather, yellow leather
* Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch
* Peggy Babcock
* Red lorry, yellow lorry

Some tongue twisters are used for speech practice and vocal warmup:<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gordon |first1=David |title=David Gordon's Favorite Vocal Warmup Tongue Twisters |url=http://spiritsound.com/music/twisters.html |access-date=28 April 2021 |archive-date=9 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009124644/http://www.spiritsound.com/music/twisters.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{poem quote|The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue,
the tip of the tongue, the teeth, the lips.}}

Tongue twisters are used to train pronunciation skills in non-native speakers:<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mu’in |first1=Fatchul |last2=Amrina |first2=Rosyi |last3=Amelia |first3=Rizky |date=2017-12-04 |title=Tongue Twister, Students’ Pronunciation Ability, and Learning Styles |url=https://awej.org/tongue-twister-students-pronunciation-ability-and-learning-styles/ |url-status=live |journal=Arab World English Journal |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=365-383 |doi=10.24093/awej/vol8no4.25 |issn=2229-9327 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625094441/https://awej.org/tongue-twister-students-pronunciation-ability-and-learning-styles/ |archive-date=2021-06-25 |via=[[SocArXiv]] |doi-access=free}}</ref>

{{blockquote|
The sheep on the ship slipped on the sheet of sleet.
}}

Other types of tongue twisters derive their humor from producing vulgar results only when performed incorrectly:

{{poem quote|Old Mother Hunt had a rough cut [[Punt (boat)|punt]]
Not a punt cut rough,
But a rough cut punt.}}

{{poem quote|One smart feller, he felt smart,
Two smart fellers, they both felt smart,
Three smart fellers, they all felt smart.}}

Some twisters are amusing because they sound incorrect even when pronounced correctly:

{{poem quote|Are you copperbottoming those pans, my man?
No, I'm aluminiuming 'em Ma'am.}}

In 2013, MIT researchers claimed that this is the trickiest twister to date:<ref>{{cite news|last1=Annear|first1=Steve|title=MIT Researchers Say They Have Created The Trickiest Tongue Twister To Date|url=http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2013/12/05/mit-tongue-twister-trickiest-to-say/|access-date=4 April 2015|work=[[Boston (magazine)|Boston]]|date=5 December 2013|archive-date=8 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408145229/http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2013/12/05/mit-tongue-twister-trickiest-to-say/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Grossman |first=Samantha |date=2013-12-05 |title=Can You Tackle the World’s Trickiest Tongue Twister? |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/05/can-you-tackle-the-worlds-trickiest-tongue-twister/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929155946/https://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/05/can-you-tackle-the-worlds-trickiest-tongue-twister/ |archive-date=2020-09-29 |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]}}</ref>

{{blockquote|
Pad kid poured curd pulled cold
}}