Theophilus Thistle
A well-known long English tongue twister. It mixes TH and S almost word by word and makes you sift, sieve and thrust your way through a sentence that never lets the tongue settle. Even the name at the start is a small test.
Theophilus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter, in sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles, thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb.
More tongue twisters for the same sounds
- Thea's mother smoothed the thick cloth with both hands, then set the table.
- Their father thought that three months was a long time to gather the money.
- The author thought through both themes, then threw in three other thoughts.
- Seth bathes the youngest, then dresses them, then reads them three short stories.
- Beth thanked the three thoughtful authors, though none of them thought their thick third book was worth the thanks.
- Though the path through the northern hills was thick with thorns, Ethan and Ruth kept walking without once thinking of turning back.
Other famous tongue twisters for these sounds
Where to breathe
- Theophilus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter,
- in sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles,
- thrust three thousand thistles
- through the thick of his thumb.
A duel between TH and S
The whole text is a duel between TH and S. Thistle, thrust, three, thousand, through, thick and thumb start with the voiceless TH. Successful, sifter, sifting, sieve and unsifted are full of S. Inside “thistle” you have both. At speed the two swap: “Sistle”, “thuccessful”, “thifter”.
The name comes first and many people stumble before the twister even starts. “Theophilus” is said thee-OFF-ih-lus, four syllables, stress on the second. Then the S in “successful” comes right after a run of TH, and the double S sound in the middle, “suk-SESS-ful”, tends to blur.
The third part, “thrust three thousand thistles through”, is the dense center. Five TH words in a row, three of them with the THR cluster, after a long sentence that has already tired the tongue.
How to learn it and get to the end
Learn it in the four parts shown above and breathe at each comma. Treat the last two parts as one thought: what he did and where it hurt.
Drill two lists separately. The S list: successful, sifter, sifting, sieve, unsifted. The TH list: thrust, three, thousand, thistles, through, thick, thumb. Say each slowly, then alternate one word from each list to feel the tongue move between the ridge and the teeth.
When the parts are steady, put the whole text together at a calm pace. Speed up the second half last, since that is where the tongue gets tired. Your check is “thumb” at the very end: if it still starts with TH, not F or S, the run counts.
What the words mean
A sieve is a tool with a mesh for sorting fine material from coarse, and to sift is to pass something through it. A thistle is a prickly wild plant. The picture is a man sorting thistles who pushes the spines into his own thumb. The text is folk, author unknown, and its wording varies from one collection to another.
Keep practicing
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.