CAN YOU SAY THESE OUT LOUD?

Test your skills and try to say this tongue twisters out loud!

Image: Caroline Hernandez

Since time immemorial, tongue twisters have been a favorite children’s game. After all, what’s cheaper and easier than to keep kids entertained with just a few funny words that are meant to be repeated again and again?

Here we select some of the objectively hardest tongue twisters that the English language can produce. Enjoy!

Image: AMIT UIKEY

According to a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this is the hardest English tongue twister in the world. The researchers who created this funny piece of unspeakable nonsense - sadistic monsters, most likely - reported that most people who tried this tongue twister found it almost impossible to repeat.

Image: Chris Chow

Quite a funny and bellicose scene. Not an easy one either, and since it’s longer than most tongue twisters here it will probably require extra time to memorize it correctly.

Image: Karthick Krishnakumar

How, indeed. I have to say, this one seems easy on paper, but saying it more than three times fast is a real challenge.

Image: J. Balla Photography

If you were left wondering what in the world a menagerie is, it turns out it’s a French word that means a ‘collection of captive animals kept for display’. Essentially a precursor of the modern zoo.

Image: Brendan Church

As a friend of mine pointed out after hearing this one, good luck saying this twice after having a few drinks at the brewery.

Image: Pete Willis

Talk like a sick slick snake with this nitpicky little skit. Well, I’m officially ruined, I can only think in tongue-twisty fashion now.

Image: Taylor Sondgeroth

In phonetics - the branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and replicate sounds - the sound so familiar to the English language is what’s called a ‘dental fricative’. If this doesn’t sound terrifying enough by itself, know that this sound is commonly quite difficult for foreign learners to pronounce, and even native-speaking children usually take longer to master it.

In plain words, this means a consonant that is pronounced with the tip of the tongue placed against the teeth, but you already know that if you tried to follow your tongue movements while trying to repeat the Thursday misfortunes of Mr. Thurber.

Image: Good Free Photos

A haiku-esque scene for the more poetically inclined.

Image: Juan Rumimpunu

Loving this one… If you have the time, challenge a young kid to this one, they might have a bit of trouble with it. But it’s more than just a tongue twister, it’s good advice.

Image: Karo Kujanpaa

Hope your tongue is okay after this rollercoaster of an article! Soothe your tired speech organ with an icy drink, or maybe practice a bit more if you are thinking of challenging friends or family with some of these.

If you enjoyed our dive into the often confusing, albeit fascinating, world of tongue twisters; keep around! We will explore more fun language quirks and topics like the origin of many acronyms, or how some foreign words can become a translator’s worst nightmare.

Odd words, old meanings

These 10 idioms and phrases are still in use, but don’t always make sense

How much is a notch when it comes to volume? Who is Bob, and why is he everyone’s uncle? What is the difference between a spider web and a cobweb? Languages change with time and use, and English is no exception, but some phrases remain frozen in time, and while we still use them, we don’t always know their literal meaning. Here are 10 idioms and words that don’t make sense, but once did.

We often use the phrase "to a T" (sometimes spelled "to a tee") to indicate something done perfectly, with precision. But is it about the letter "T"? Not really. The original phrase used to be "to a tittle," with tittle being the proper name for the dot of the "i" or the "j," and it conveyed the idea of doing something accurately, down to the smallest detail. Eventually, "tittle" was shortened to "T," but the phrase had already stuck, even if its literal meaning was lost.

Although "fathom" might sound very formal, we all know that it is synonymous with "understand." But did you know that fathom is actually a nautical unit of measurement? From the Old English fæðm ("the span of the arms" or "embrace"), it represented the distance between the left and right fingertips of outstretched arms. Eventually, a "fathom" was standardized to about six feet or two yards, and was mainly used by sailors to measure water depth. It was this connection with depth that led the word to take on a figurative meaning of "getting to the bottom" of something, or understanding it thoroughly.

Popularly, we understand that a "red herring" is something meant to give false clues or distract from another pressing issue. But why a herring? Herrings turn red when smoked and also acquire a strong, pungent smell, which made them a great tool for training hunting dogs, as the smell of the fish covered the trail of the prey. As a metaphor, though, it was popularized in the early 19th century by journalist William Cobbett, who used it to describe how the press was easily swayed by false news.

If something is a "rule of thumb," it means that it’s a common guideline, usually based on experience rather than science. In its origins, this phrase was quite literal: thumbs served as a rule. Tradesmen often used the width and length of their thumbs to take and remember measurements, a system that, though practical and effective, only worked for the owner of the thumb in question. Its use as an idiom comes from 17th century writers comparing this popular method with more scientific measuring systems.

If someone asks us to "take it down a notch," how much should we lower our volume? With "notch," this idiom refers to mechanical dials, like the ones used in a radio, where the notches signal the different levels. And while radios only date back to the 20th century, the roots of this idiom go all the way back to the 17th century and to the phrase "take it down a peg," related to wooden pins used for measurements.

Is there a difference between a cobweb and a spiderweb? Although they are synonymous, most dictionaries will make the distinction that "cobweb" is particularly used for dusty, abandoned spiderwebs. But what does the "cob" part mean? "Cobweb" is derived from the Middle English coppeweb, composed of coppe ("spider") and web ("woven fabric"). If we go one step further, coppe comes from the Old English attorcoppe ("spider"), a mix of attor ("poison") and coppe ("head" or "round thing"). So, despite the slight difference in their actual use, "cobweb" and "spiderweb" mean the same thing.

It isn’t difficult to see how "breaking the ice" might have originated from people actually breaking ice, but what many ignore is that this custom (and the phrase) is rooted in diplomacy and trade. When large trade vessels were unable to advance due to frozen rivers, canals, or harbors, it was common to send people in a small boat to "break the ice" and allow the ship to continue its course. In some places, however, locals would send "icebreakers" to clear the path for a foreign vessel as a welcome and a sign of goodwill. The metaphorical use of the phrase exists in many languages, but it was first recorded in English in the 16th century.

The idea of "letting down your hair" is popularly associated with relaxing and letting formalities aside, but the phrase is rooted in an actual Medieval and Renaissance custom. Traditionally, single women would keep their hair loose and uncovered, but would pin it up once they married. It was not proper for a married woman to be seen in public with their hair down, something they would only do in the comfort of their home, foregoing elaborate hairstyles and uncomfortable pins. Eventually, loose hair lost its social status meaning, but the connection with relaxation remained.

According to historians, no one knows who Uncle Bob is, or what his connection is with simple and easily accomplished tasks, but popular folklore claims to have the answer. According to this theory, the phrase refers to British Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (who went by Bob), appointing his nephew Arthur Balfour as Chief Secretary for Ireland, a position he was woefully unqualified for, but that was made possible because "Bob’s your uncle".

Have you ever wondered why midwives have that name? After all, there is nothing "mid" nor necessarily "wifely" in helping someone give birth. The answer takes us back to Old English, where mid meant "with" or "together with," and wif (the origin of "wife") meant "woman," "female," or "lady," and not necessarily a married female. First recorded around the year 1300, "midwife" was an accompanying person (typically a woman) who assisted mothers during labor. Although the literal meaning of the term is lost to us, the importance of the role was surely the reason this word survived through the centuries.