Mēles mežģi
From ‘Around the rugged rock, the ragged rascal ran’ to ‘red leather, yellow leather’, one aspect of mastering a language is being able to master its tongue twisters. They are always decidedly odd sentences:
- Combien de sous sont ces saucissons-ci? Ces saucissons-ci sont six sous (French): “How much are these sausages here? These sausages here are six cents”.
- Zwei schwarze schleimige Schlangen sitzen zwischen zwei spitzen Steinen und zischen (German): “Two black slimy snakes sit between two pointed stones and hiss”.
Other favourites in the European arena include:
Some short words or phrases ‘become’ tongue-twisters when repeated, a number of times fast (try it!):
- Thin Thing
- French Friend
- Red Leather, Yellow Leathe
- Unique New York
- Sometimes Sunshine
- Irish Wristwatch
- Big Whip