To Twist A Tongue

“Alex, why tongue twisters? Of all the ridiculous things to write about — are you raving mad?”

Nope. Quite the contrary, I’m madly brilliant, brilliant I say! Of all the history, culture, literature, folklore, legends and myths of Neopia, I have yet to see any tongue twisters that could knot the tongues of many a quick Neopet. So I said to myself, “You have nothing better to do; why not invent some?”

Well, one thing led to another (four hours of being locked up in a bedroom with a “Keep Out” sign nailed to the door) and I finally finished! For those who are currently scratching their heads in confusion, I have presented a modest FAQ to help. If you’d like to skip it, of course, I challenge you to tackle my tongue twisters and wish you the best of luck!

FAQ

Q: What is a tongue twister?
A: This wordplay is almost literal to its name: normally a short sentence or group of sentences, a tongue twister is meant to make saying the sentence at top speed difficult. The words will either have a beginning or ending that rhymes —

Scorchios scorch scores of Scorchstones.

the words will all rhyme —

The mean Intesteen team scheme a dream of preening green beans.

or share the same first letter and or sound.

Crafty Kougras keep kelp caches on Kreludor.

Repetition and alliteration are very common; they help increase the chances of someone slipping up on a word or sound. Alliteration is repeating the same consonant (sound) over and over to confuse the brain and trip the tongue.

Another type of tongue twister is creating a two or four-word sentence and having the person or Neopet repeat it until the phrase distorts itself. Try saying these ten times fast:

Meepit verse Feepit.

Merry Meridell.

Tiki Tack Tombola.

Pottery at the Lottery.

Chocolate Chia cheer.

I personally find that these types of tongue twisters are harder to write, but yield very satisfying results when, after saying one for the twelfth time, I hear what sounds like a jumble of noise.

These are possibly the hardest. The last type of tongue twister is called a spoonerism. Spoonerisms are when letters and syllables get swapped due to slips of the tongue. Some of the ones below are of my own invention:

Bite me! becomes Might be.

Snowing on the game day. becomes Going on the same day.

Grundo with no tails. becomes Grundo with toe nails.

Tor’s sore mum gnaws away at the boy Gracklebug. becomes Tor’s boredom gnaws away at the soy Gracklebug.

Q: What can I do with a tongue twister?
A: You can do what I did—get a good laugh out of listening to your friends and family kick themselves in the head when they stumble on a slippery word. Tongue twisters can propose challenges of TONGUE COORDINATION and skill. Who can say it the fastest? The most fluently? The most times in a row? Ask yourselves this, and that is what you can do with a tongue twister: have fun, of course!

On a more formal note, tongue twisters are also used by foreign language speakers to improve accents. Actors and actresses will repeat tongue twisters to learn an accent, and speech therapists can use alliteration and repetition to help those with speech problems.

Q: How do I make a Neopian tongue twister?
A: Any way that you want. Try to stick to things that Neopets can relate to, and try to avoid mentioning advanced technology (like phones, airplanes, the internet) or other non-Neopet things. Still, it’s your tongue twister, so only YOU can decide what to put in it!

Maybe some of my tongue twisters will help you along in inventing your own, or can provide you with some frustrating amusement and laughs. Fifty-one original to twist the tongue! Challenge your friends to a verbal match and see who can last the longest in a race to be the best tongue twister—er!

Those cheeky Kacheeks like
chewing on Chokato Chews.

Faeries in Faerieland often fly
into Fyora’s fabled tower.

Motes are made of magic,
malice, and mischief.

A Doglefox with NeoPox ate my socks.

The counsel of Quetzal
cancel to stencil the pretzel.

Blue Kaus in Geraptiku moo
for two Straw Cubes.

Can a Skunk Kacheek with a
white hairstreak sneak
by the creek in a week?

Hissis dismiss what’s
amiss with a hiss.

Bori tell stories of
glory from history.

An awesome clan of Flotsam outswam
the Jetsam Sam with a Snapping Clam.

Robert the Gelert of the Lost Desert
ate a dessert of sherbert and yoghurt.

The Money Tree made free tea for three.

The stocky Wocky
has cocky Pawkeets.

I wish for a dish of Waterfish from a
fissure or fisher.

Kauvara the Kau’s crazy concoctions create
curious new creatures and colors.

Paintbrush paranoia please parading pets.

If an egg isn’t a negg and a
negg isn’t an egg then what is it, I beg?

The Kyrii and Eyrie had a theory:
Do Cheery Tomatoes get teary?

Those Ona own a Nova.

Pirates plunder ports and
people of precious pearls.

The Battledome gnome with his
comb roam between Neohomes.

Scarred Skarl snarled at the Grarrl.

Arrows fly in Ultimate Bullseye.

Count von Roo has no curfew.

To no avail a Neomail
in braille will fail.

Eighty eerie Eyries ate apples
early in the evening.

All walls enthrall Wingoballs.

Jenny the Jetsam gently jests that
Jelly World generally doesn’t exist.

Making minced Mynci meat
may make Myncis mistrustful.

Jeran outran a clan of fans.

Hyper hasty Hasee help
hoard by hopping high.

Whom assume the Deserted
Tomb are doomed to gloom.

The Shade brigade
made Scarblade lemonade.

Help harass Kass with a brass bass.

Closets carry coats to
cloak and clothe creatures.

The mean Intesteen team scheme
a dream of preening green beans.

Disco Techos bestow afros
at discos.

Hubert’s helpful hotdogs
help heal headaches—hopefully.

A Blumaroo who knew kung-fu grew
bamboo, cashew, and yew.

The full-scale gale
impaled hail in Brightvale.

Happy Valley hasn’t had heat
havoc the happy hamlets.

White Weewoos will write
with wilted Weewoo wingtips.

Scorchios scorch scores of Scorchstones.

Terror Mountain terrifies Tonus.

Crafty Kougras keep kelp
caches on Kreludor.

Fyora adores a door rug.

Wizards weathered powdered
gizzards in a blizzard.

Xweetoks stock stalks of
cornstalk, beanstalk, and leafstalk.

Mohawk block the bedrock
sidewalk with rocks.

Invisible intruding imps inflict
issues instilling invisibility.

Draiks bake opaque cakes
and make the mistake to wake
to outbreaks of toothaches.

EDITOR’S NOTE : Under mysterious circumstances shortly after this article was published, Alex was taken to Kreludor for questioning regarding the thirty-first tongue twister. Since then, no one has seen the writer or her Neopets. It was also publicly announced to Neopia and its denizens that in regard to the thirty-first tongue twister, the writer was indeed insane; Jelly World does not exist. Thank you for your cooperation.

— TNT