Sources
Every one of these hard tongue twisters is a traditional line found in at least one public collection. The two ranked picks link to their sources.
Hard Tongue Twisters You Can Record
Pick one of these hard tongue twisters, say it three times fast, then play the take back and hear whether you actually nailed it.
Say these hard tongue twisters three times fast
Pad kid poured curd pulled cod.
This try--
Your best--
Your recording stays on this device. Nothing is uploaded. Hear it uses your device's built-in voice, so it varies by device.
The Hardest Tongue Twister in the World, and Who Says So
Hard tongue twisters are short lines that pack similar sounds so close together that your mouth swaps them. No one keeps an official ranking today. Below are the two picks with a named source, then three that coaches and lists name most often.
All five are also in the list below, ready for the recorder.
- #1Guinness World Records, 1974
The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick.
Listed as the hardest in English. Guinness stopped tracking the category after that.
NPR on the Guinness listing - #2MIT speech study, 2013
Pad kid poured curd pulled cod.
Built by MIT researcher Stefanie Shattuck-Hufnagel to study speech errors. Some subjects gave up.
The Week on the MIT study
- #3Old British speech drill
The Leith police dismisseth us.
A classic diction drill among hard tongue twisters. The TH and S keep landing in one spot.
- #4Frequent pick in tongue twister lists
Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch.
Only four words, but R, SW, and SH sit side by side.
- #5Drama school warm-up
Red lorry, yellow lorry.
Short and easy to read, yet most people fold by the third round.
40 Hard Tongue Twisters, Sorted by Difficulty
Filter these hard tongue twisters by level, then press the microphone beside a line to try it in the recorder.
Hard Tongue Twisters to Start With
Short hard tongue twisters. Easy to read, hard to repeat at speed.
Red lorry, yellow lorry.
R, L
Unique New York, unique New York, you know you need unique New York.
N, Y
Toy boat. Toy boat. Toy boat.
T, B
She sells seashells by the seashore.
S, SH
Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.
S, SL
Truly rural.
R, L
A proper copper coffee pot.
P, K
Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.
F, T, D
Black background, brown background.
B, K
Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
L, W, TH
Many an anemone sees an enemy anemone.
M, N
Thin sticks, thick bricks.
TH, S
Eleven benevolent elephants.
L, V
Sheena leads, Sheila needs.
SH, L, N
Really Hard Tongue Twisters
Really hard tongue twisters run longer and change one sound at a time.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
P, K
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
W, CH
Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter.
B, T
I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop.
S, SH
Scissors sizzle, thistles sizzle.
S, Z, TH
Six sticky skeletons.
S, K
Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
K, N
Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?
W, SW, R
Fresh French fried fly fritters.
FR, FL
Mixed biscuits, mixed biscuits.
KS, SK
Red blood, blue blood.
R, BL
Of all the felt I ever felt, I never felt a piece of felt that felt as fine as that felt felt.
F, L
A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
SK, ST, TH
Very Hard Tongue Twisters
Very hard tongue twisters, including the famous hardest picks. Expect to slip.
The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick.
KS, TH, SH
Pad kid poured curd pulled cod.
P, K, D
The Leith police dismisseth us.
TH, S
Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch.
R, SW, SH
The seething sea ceaseth and thus the seething sea sufficeth us.
S, TH
Brisk brave brigadiers brandished broad bright blades, blunderbusses, and bludgeons.
BR, BL
Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie.
M, N, J
Pre-shrunk silk shirts.
SHR, S, SH
Theophilus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter, sifted a sieve full of unsifted thistles.
TH, S
Six thick thistle sticks.
S, TH, K
Gobbling gargoyles gobbled gobbling goblins.
G, B, L
Shy Shelly says she shall sew sheets.
S, SH
Rory the warrior and Roger the worrier were reared wrongly in a rural brewery.
R, W
Why Difficult Tongue Twisters Trip You Up
Difficult tongue twisters are not hard because of long words. Hard tongue twisters trip you because your brain plans the next sound early, and similar sounds swap on the way out.
- LipsP B M W
- TeethTH
- Gum ridgeT D S Z N L
- Behind the ridgeSH CH J R
- Soft palateK G
Six patterns behind hard tongue twisters, with a line to practice each
| What makes it hard | Try this line | How to slow it down |
|---|---|---|
| S and SH take turns | She sells seashells by the seashore | Round your lips for every SH and keep them flat for S. |
| P, K, and D back to back | Pad kid poured curd pulled cod | Say each word alone first, then join them two at a time. |
| R and L swap places | Red lorry, yellow lorry | Tongue tip up behind your teeth for L, pulled back for R. |
| TH right after S or KS | The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick | Add a tiny pause after sixth until the TH feels clean. |
| Clusters stack up | Brisk brave brigadiers | Drop the speed, not the consonants. Every B and R stays. |
| Near repeats with one change | Betty Botter bought some butter | Find the one word that changes and lean on it. |
Hard tongue twisters are a speaking warm-up, not speech therapy. If a sound is always hard for you, ask a speech professional.
How to Say Hard Tongue Twisters Faster
Speed comes last. Most people who beat hard tongue twisters slow down first.
Read it slowly
Say the line at half speed three times. Hard tongue twisters only work once every sound is right.
Split it into chunks
Break hard tongue twisters where they trip you, such as sixth sick and sheikh's sixth, and drill each chunk.
Record and find the slip
Press Record, then play it back. You will hear the swap you did not notice while talking.
Speed up one step
Speed up hard tongue twisters only after a clean take. Your best time updates when you beat it.
Five clean takes a day on two or three hard tongue twisters does more than one long session.
How We Picked and Tested These Hard Tongue Twisters
Levels
Short hard tongue twisters go in Hard. Longer lines, or lines that change one sound at a time, go in Really hard. Very hard lines stack three or more trouble sounds.
Recorder
We tried the recorder in desktop Chrome and at phone width. It records, replays, and keeps your best time on that device.
Limits
The timer measures how long your take lasts, not whether every word was right.
Updated November 9, 2026
Turn Hard Tongue Twisters into a Party Challenge
Hard tongue twisters are better with an audience. Try these games with friends or a class.
2+ players
Three times fast
Each player draws one of these hard tongue twisters and says it three times. One slip and you are out.
2+ players
Beat the clock
Everyone records the same line from these hard tongue twisters. The fastest clean take wins, and the room decides what counts as clean.
3+ players
Level up
Start with short hard tongue twisters and move up a level each round. The last player standing picks the next line.
Once hard tongue twisters feel easy, try Spanish tongue twisters or put your voice on a real scene with our voice acting scripts and dubbing game.
Hard Tongue Twisters FAQ
What is the hardest tongue twister in the world?
There is no current official answer. In 1974 Guinness World Records listed The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick as the hardest in English, then stopped tracking the category. In 2013 an MIT speech study built Pad kid poured curd pulled cod, and some subjects gave up. Both sit in our Very hard group of hard tongue twisters.
What are the hardest tongue twisters in English?
The hardest tongue twisters in English mix close sounds in very few words. Common picks are The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick, Pad kid poured curd pulled cod, The Leith police dismisseth us, Irish wristwatch, and Red lorry, yellow lorry.
Why are tongue twisters so hard to say?
Your brain plans the next sound before you finish the current one. When two sounds are made in almost the same spot, such as S and SH or P and K, the plan mixes them up. That is why hard tongue twisters get worse with speed.
Do hard tongue twisters help with speaking or acting?
Actors, voice actors, and presenters use hard tongue twisters as a quick diction warm-up before a read. They wake up your lips and tongue, and a recording makes lazy sounds easy to hear. Pair hard tongue twisters with real lines from a script, or start with our tongue twister vocal warm ups.
What are some really hard tongue twisters for adults?
Try the Really hard and Very hard groups of hard tongue twisters. Theophilus Thistle, the seething sea line, and the imaginary menagerie manager trip most adults. Say each one three times fast, record it, and compare takes with a friend.
Is my recording saved or uploaded?
No. Your recording stays in your browser on this device and is gone when you leave the page or record again. Nothing is sent to our servers, and you do not need an account to try these hard tongue twisters. Your browser asks for microphone access the first time.
Ready to Voice a Whole Scene?
Hard tongue twisters warm up your mouth. Our dubbing game puts your voice on a movie or cartoon scene you can watch back.
Play the dubbing game