Can You Say This Clearly?
Tell me something — can you read this clearly, cleanly, without mistake?
Amidst the mists and coldest frosts
With barest fists and stoutest boasts
He thrusts his fists against the posts
And still insists he sees the ghosts.
Oh man, that's a tough one, isn't it? It's targeting the /s/ and /st/ clusters (mists, frosts, fists, posts), and repeated /θ/ and /ð/ contrasts — that is the voiced and unvoiced th (thrusts / the), all the while rhythmically challenging alternation between /s/, /st/, and /ts/ endings.
It was a very famous elocution drill in the 19th and early 20th century, used for actors and public speakers. No one quite knows who originally wrote it. It's been attributed to Lewis Carroll, but there has never been any confirmation of that.
These days it's not quite as popular as it once was, but it is still used in speaking classes for people who need to speak clearly and quickly without fumbling their words, like newscasters.
I use it with my more advanced students sometimes. No matter how good someone thinks their pronunciation is, this is one tongue twister that will quickly humble them. But if one is up to the challenge and actually devotes some daily practice to it, it really can aid their speech.
You might smirk and think it easy. And indeed, recited in your head it undoubtedly is easy. But humor me and recite it out loud in a normal speaking voice. If you want to have some fun with it, even put on an elevated theater accent — one of those faux-English RP accents you probably picture classically trained actors using — and try saying it clearly.
Let me know in the comments how successful you are. 😃
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David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Bluesky. |
Even whispering it I did okay, but as soon as I started saying it loudly in a conversational type voice, it was a cluster fuck. LOL
haha I know exactly what you mean!
You have been manual curated and upvoted by @ecency
Did you know that @stresskiller is also a witness now ?
Let’s just say — I kicked ass on the last line.
Well done 😃
No phrase has ever activated my lisp more than this 😆
Any advice for someone who can say it but not enunciate it? It sounds like I'm trying to lure a cat: "Amisst fsst pssspssspssst! Here, Kitty!"
haha I hear you.
The trick for learning how to fully enunciate it is mainly slow down so that you can hit each syllable on its own without risking it blending with the next. Also OVER emphasize each one. When you teach your mouth to do both of those things, saying it normally becomes easier.
I thought it was easy when I read it the first time, then I realised I hadn't voiced the last s.
Does all these sts words really exist? 🥴
haha I know, right? You don't realize how tricky those words can be until they are presented back to back like this.
I can do it, but I have to do it slowly. I prefer The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain. :)
And that's the secret to learning to do it well — practice slowly until your mouth learns to enunciate the sounds separately, then speed up.
The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain is a classic.
But in Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire,
hurricanes hardly ever happen.
I have a bunch on file. Tongue twisters are excellent pronunciation exercises.
How about She sell sea shells on the sea shore
That's a good one too!
That is one of those you really have to pace out to get it right. I can see why actors used it in the past to force enunciation. It's easy to get get tongue tied on it though, I hadn't heard this one before. Thanks for sharing, that's pretty cool whether or not it came from Carroll!
Totally. Pacing is half of good speaking, so a good tongue twister will definitely be designed to encourage that.