Funny tongue twisters
Silly images make twisters easier to remember and much funnier to fumble. Use these for party games, icebreakers, or a light warm-up before recording.
Practise these 27 twisters
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.
Easy · sounds: s, k, r · traditional
In 'I scream' the 's' starts the second word, while in 'ice cream' it ends the first, so the 'k' in cream gets a little puff of air.
Say it 3 times fast
Time three clean repetitions.
Clean repetitions
Aim for 5 in a row without a slip.
Record and listen back
How to practise
- Picture the image while you say it. It helps the words stick.
- Take turns in a group: whoever trips first picks the next twister.
- Record the fastest attempt and play it back. The mistakes are the fun part.
All funny tongue twisters, easiest first
- 1.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.
Easy · sounds: s, k, r · traditional
In 'I scream' the 's' starts the second word, while in 'ice cream' it ends the first, so the 'k' in cream gets a little puff of air.
- 2.
Big pink pigs bake plump blueberry pies.
Easy · sounds: b, p, pl, bl · SceneDub original
Close your lips for every 'b' and 'p', letting a little puff of air out only on the 'p' sounds.
- 3.
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.
Medium · sounds: w, ch, k · traditional
Round your lips fully for each 'w', and snap each 'ch' with a quick press of the tongue just behind the gum ridge before letting the air out.
- 4.
Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
Medium · sounds: k, n · traditional
Lift the back of your tongue for each 'k' and keep a steady beat so the repeated cans don't collapse into one long hum.
- 5.
A big black bug bit a big black bear, made the big black bear bleed blood.
Medium · sounds: b, bl, g · traditional
Lift your tongue tip for the 'l' the instant your lips part in black, bleed, and blood, so 'bl' never shrinks to plain 'b'.
- 6.
Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep. The seven silly sheep Silly Sally shooed shilly-shallied south.
Medium · sounds: s, sh, l · traditional
Take shilly-shallied slowly, rounding your lips for each 'sh' there and relaxing them for the 's' in silly and Sally.
- 7.
Selfish shellfish.
Medium · sounds: s, sh, l, f · traditional
Spread your lips for the 's' that starts selfish and round them for the 'sh' that starts shellfish, since both words end in the same '-fish'.
- 8.
Gobbling gargoyles gobbled gobbling goblins.
Medium · sounds: g, b, l · traditional
Lift the back of your tongue for each 'g' and close your lips for each 'b', so gobbling and goblins keep their different middles.
- 9.
A noisy noise annoys an oyster.
Medium · sounds: n, oy, z · traditional
Keep the 'z' in noisy, noise, and annoys buzzing with your voice on, and glide fully through each 'oy'.
- 10.
A flea and a fly in a flue were imprisoned, so what could they do? Said the fly, 'Let us flee!' 'Let us fly!' said the flea. So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
Medium · sounds: fl, f, l · traditional
Keep the 'fl' blend tight in flea, fly, flue, flee, flew, and flaw, and let only the vowel change from word to word.
- 11.
The royal lobster and the loyal lobster rolled a yellow lollipop.
Medium · sounds: r, l, y · SceneDub original
Royal and loyal differ only in their first sound, so start one with a pulled-back 'r' and the other with the tongue tip on the gum ridge.
- 12.
Seven shy sea serpents shared a single seashell sofa.
Medium · sounds: s, sh · SceneDub original
Keep sea and shy apart by spreading your lips for 's' and rounding them for 'sh', especially in seashell, where both sounds meet.
- 13.
Six squealing squirrels squashed squishy squash.
Medium · sounds: skw, s, sh · SceneDub original
Say each 'squ' as three quick parts, 's', 'k', and a rounded 'w', and give squashed, squishy, and squash their soft 'sh'.
- 14.
Shy sheep chew cheap shoes.
Medium · sounds: sh, ch · SceneDub original
For 'ch' stop the air for an instant with your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and for 'sh' let it flow, so chew and shoes stay different.
- 15.
A plump pelican plopped a big pebble into Bob's bubble bath.
Medium · sounds: p, pl, b · SceneDub original
Seal your lips completely for each 'p' and 'b', and add the 'l' quickly after the 'p' in plump and plopped.
- 16.
Gary's grumpy goat gargled cold cocoa.
Medium · sounds: g, k · SceneDub original
Keep your tongue in the same place and switch only your voice: on for the 'g' in Gary's, grumpy, goat, and gargled, off for the 'k' in cold and cocoa.
- 17.
Kirk's quirky gherkins.
Medium · sounds: k, kw, g · SceneDub original
Release a puff of air for the 'k' in Kirk's and quirky, then voice the 'g' in gherkins without moving your tongue from the same spot.
- 18.
Wally the walrus wore a very velvety vest.
Medium · sounds: w, v · SceneDub original
Round your lips for 'w' and rest your top teeth on your lower lip for 'v', so wore and very never swap their starting sounds.
- 19.
Cheerful chef Jack chopped juicy cherries into jam.
Medium · sounds: ch, j, sh · SceneDub original
Keep 'ch' breathy and 'j' voiced, both starting with the tongue pressed to the roof of your mouth, and remember that chef starts with a softer 'sh'.
- 20.
A sleepy sloth in slippers slurped split-pea soup.
Medium · sounds: sl, spl, s · SceneDub original
Slide from 's' straight into 'l' in sleepy, sloth, slippers, and slurped, and build the 'spl' in split as three quick sounds with no vowel between them.
- 21.
Fifty fat thrushes fought three thin finches.
Medium · sounds: f, th, thr · SceneDub original
Put your tongue between your teeth for 'th' and your top teeth on your lower lip for 'f', so thin and finches feel completely different.
- 22.
Freddy's frog flipped fluffy flapjacks.
Medium · sounds: fr, fl · SceneDub original
Keep the 'f' the same and switch only your tongue, pulled back for the 'r' in Freddy's and frog and touching the gum ridge for the 'l' in flipped, fluffy, and flapjacks.
- 23.
A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
Hard · sounds: s, sk, st, th · traditional
Start thunk with the tongue between the teeth and stunk with it behind them; that one small shift is the whole trick.
- 24.
If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?
Hard · sounds: w, ch, tw · traditional
Round your lips for each 'w' and release each 'ch' sharply, keeping the short 'i' in witch distinct from the 'ah' in watch.
- 25.
Giggling jugglers juggle jiggling jellies.
Hard · sounds: g, j · SceneDub original
Start each 'j' with the front of your tongue on the roof of your mouth and each 'g' with the back of your tongue, so giggling and jiggling stay different.
- 26.
Wasps' nests rest on dentists' desks.
Hard · sounds: sps, sts, sks · SceneDub original
Pronounce every consonant in the endings, 'sps' in wasps', 'sts' in nests and dentists', and 'sks' in desks, slowly before you speed up.
- 27.
The ghost's hosts boast the most toasts.
Hard · sounds: st, sts · SceneDub original
Close a real 't' between the two 's' sounds in ghost's, hosts, and toasts instead of letting it vanish into one long hiss.
More tongue twister sets
Warmed up? Put it to work with a free voice acting script or dub a scene online.
Frequently asked questions
What's an easy funny tongue twister to start with?
Try "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream." Say it slowly three times before speeding up.
What's the hardest funny tongue twister here?
"A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk." Start thunk with the tongue between the teeth and stunk with it behind them; that one small shift is the whole trick.
How many times should I repeat a tongue twister?
Aim for five clean repetitions in a row at a comfortable speed, then three times fast. A few minutes a day is enough for a warm-up; stop if your jaw or voice feels strained.