INTERNATIONAL TONGUE TWISTER DAY

(Last Updated On: November 8, 2022)

Every year on the second Sunday in November, International Tongue Twister Day celebrates this alliterative sequence of words that are both fun and challenging to say. It’s also a day to learn some new tongue twisters.

Can you guess what the most difficult tongue twister is to say? It doesn’t have anything to do with Peter Piper Picking Pickled Peppers. Nor is it about selling seashells by the seashore. It doesn’t even ask the question, “how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” The most difficult tongue twister is, “The sixth sick sheikh’s sixth sheep’s sick.” Another really hard one, according to researchers at MIT is, “Pad kid poured curd pulled cod.” Say any of those tongue twisters 10 times, and you have accomplished a major feat!

Besides being fun to say, tongue twisters offer these benefits:

They strengthen the muscles used for speech, which leads to clearer pronunciation and speech patterns.
Tongue twisters highlight which sounds are difficult for you to say so that you can work on those sounds.
They are a great warmup exercise before giving a speech, teaching a class, or doing a presentation.

If you want to practice tongue twisters, try some with just a few words. The key to practicing is to say the same phrase a certain number of times. Try saying, “six sticky skeletons” three times in a row. Or what about saying “she sees cheese” five times?

HOW TO OBSERVE #TongueTwisterDay

The best way to celebrate this day is to say tongue twisters. Challenge your family and friends to see how many times they can say certain tongue twisters. Using alliteration, come up with your own tongue twisters. It’s guaranteed that as you try to say tongue twisters, there will be lots of laughter and silliness involved!
Parents can read the following books that contain tongue twisters to their kids:

Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss
A Greyhound, a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins
Oh Say Can You Say? by Dr. Seuss
Orangutan Tongs: Poems to Tangle Your Tongue by Jon Agee
Elmo’s Tricky Tongue Twisters by Sarah Albee

Share this day on social media with your favorite tongue twister and #TongueTwisterDay.