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Famous tongue twisters

The best-known tongue twisters in English: Peter Piper, Betty Botter, She sells seashells, How much wood would a woodchuck chuck and Red leather, yellow leather, plus the classic ones most people half remember, in the versions most people know. Start slowly, then try to say each one fast without a slip.

The most famous tongue twisters

The ones people know by name. Wording varies, so you may remember a slightly different version.

  1. 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?
  2. Betty Botter bought some butter, but, she said, the butter's bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter will make my batter better.
  3. She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I'm sure she sells seashore shells.
  4. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
  5. Red leather, yellow leather, red leather, yellow leather.
  6. Whether the weather be fine or whether the weather be not, whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot, we'll weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.
  7. Rubber baby buggy bumpers.
  8. Toy boat. Toy boat. Toy boat.
  9. A proper cup of coffee from a proper copper coffee pot.
  10. Round the rough and rugged rock the ragged rascal rudely ran.
  11. A big black bug bit a big black bear, made the big black bear bleed blood.

Classic tongue twisters

More traditional tongue twisters: less famous, but widely used for practice and good for a daily warm-up.

  1. Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.
  2. Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.
  3. Sheep should sleep in a shed.
  4. Tie twine to three tree twigs.
  5. Sure the ship's shipshape, sir.
  6. Tom threw Tim three thumbtacks.
  7. Black background, brown background.
  8. Plain bun, plum bun, bun without plum.
  9. Bake big batches of bitter brown bread.
  10. Lily ladles little Letty's lentil soup.
  11. Aluminum, linoleum, aluminum, linoleum.
  12. Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch.
  13. Green glass globes glow greenly.
  14. Vincent vowed vengeance very vehemently.
  15. If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?
  16. The two-twenty-two train tore through the tunnel.
  17. Five frantic frogs fled from fifty fierce fishes.
  18. Thirty-three thousand feathers on a thrush's throat.
  19. Ripe white wheat reapers reap ripe white wheat right.
  20. Should such a shapely sash such shabby stitches show?
  21. Cows graze in groves on grass which grows in grooves in groves.
  22. The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.

How to practice tongue twisters

  1. Slowly, syllable by syllable, with exaggerated precision: every ending, every consonant.
  2. Normal pace. Say it two or three times, perfectly clean. If a sound blurs, go back one step.
  3. Louder, as if someone is listening from across the room. Same pace, same clarity.
  4. Faster, but only up to the speed where it stays clean. Three times in a row without a stumble.
  5. Delivery: full voice, with emotion, as if on stage. Then take the next tongue twister.

Speed is a by-product of clarity. Move up a step only when you sound perfect on the current one.

Questions about famous tongue twisters

What is the most famous tongue twister in English?
Peter Piper and She sells seashells are among the best known. Peter Piper has been in print since 1813, when it appeared in London in a book called Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation.
Who wrote Betty Botter?
The American writer Carolyn Wells. She published it as “The Butter Betty Bought” in The Jingle Book in 1899. Her version names Betty Botta; Betty Botter is the spelling most people use today.
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck?
There's no real answer: it's a play on words. A woodchuck, also called a groundhog, doesn't chuck wood. Its name comes from a Native American word and only sounds like “wood” and “chuck.”

More tongue twisters

More in the article: How to stop mumbling when you talk: a daily practice plan

Practice with a timer

In DramaLab, the speed ladder is an exercise: it gives you tongue twisters one by one, walks you up the five steps and keeps time. No sign-up needed.

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