Twisted

[953 nut 62,199]

For International Tongue Twister Day, celebrated every second Sunday in November, don’t get your tongue tied this November 9. We’re not talking about rolling or curling your taste-tester. In fact, we’re looking at Peter Piper, the woodchuck, and all their friends. Tongue twisters are a silly way to pass the time or practice pronunciation. Shoot, you can even use them to practice a foreign language! It’s time to celebrate all the twisty things you can say with your tongue.

Tongue twisters have technically been around since as early as the 19th century when John Harris published “Peter Piper’s Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation,” which included a twisty tongue tango for every letter of the alphabet. And while the book was meant to help children learn the fundamentals of speech mechanics, its titular twister garnered quite the attention and inspired a lot of lore about its namesake.

Speculation aside, it turns out Peter Piper was based on French horticulturalist Pierre Poivre, whose last name actually means ‘pepper’ in French. Pierre was said to be exploring the viability of growing American spices in the French Mediterranean.

Whether you’re trying to master Peter Piper, the woodchuck, or even “The Guinness Book of World Records’” most difficult recorded tongue twister, “The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick,” you’re sure to get your tongue endlessly tied.

 

 

[Achto 29,880]

I’m not the Fig Plucker
nor the Fig Plucker’s son
But I shall pluck figs
till the Fig Plucker comes