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General: Japanese tongue twisters

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1 to 9 of 9

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    • CommentAuthorroro
    • CommentTimeMay 15th 2008
     # 1

    This is what they call them, anyway, although they don't twist the tongue as much as some English ones I know.

    They can be fun to say, and might help to impress or amuse your Japanese friends.

    Here's one to get the ball rolling:

    隣の客はよく柿食う客だ。The guest next door is a guest who eats a lot of kaki (persimmon).

    It seems like 柿を食う would be more correct, but I'm just writing it the way I learnt it.

    • CommentAuthorTobberoth
    • CommentTimeMay 15th 2008 edited
     # 2

    バスガス爆発 - Bus gas explosion (basu gasu baku hatsu). Not really a toungetwister, but many japanese have a hard time saying it fast.

    Best one:
    Toukyou tokkyo kyokyakyoku - Tokyo Patenting Office
    There is an even longer version of this which is over twice as long, but I don't remember it.

    Edit: Found an example of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxR8o7ZjWfs

    • CommentAuthorroro
    • CommentTimeMay 15th 2008
     # 3

    Nice, the bus one in particular made me laugh.

    • CommentAuthorTobberoth
    • CommentTimeMay 15th 2008
     # 4

    I found my long one on japanese wikipedia, it has the longer versions listed:

    http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E7%89%B9%E8%A8%B1%E8%A8%B1%E5%8F%AF%E5%B1%80

    • CommentAuthorMoberg
    • CommentTimeMay 17th 2008
     # 5
    Posted By: Tobberoth

    バスガス爆発 - Bus gas explosion (basu gasu baku hatsu). Not really a toungetwister, but many japanese have a hard time saying it fast.

    There's also the longer version: バスガス爆発ブスバスガイド

    •  
      CommentAuthorKim
    • CommentTimeMay 18th 2008
     # 6

    I learned 生麦生米生卵（なまむぎなまごめなまたまご）pretty early in my Japanese studies but I never had any problem saying it.

    A real-life word that I do have problem with though is

    しちょうちょうちょうせんきょ【市長町長選挙】mayoral election

    :)

    I make Denshi Jisho.
    • CommentAuthorMoberg
    • CommentTimeMay 18th 2008
     # 7

    And there's is some twisters almost like this:

    -awasetepyokopyokomupyokopyoko
    -sumomo mo momomo

    But they aren't really that hard to manage...

    • CommentAuthorroro
    • CommentTimeMay 19th 2008 edited
     # 8

    My new favourite, from a Japanese police campaign (via http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/ja.htm):

    飲むなら乗るな！乗るなら飲むな！

    Nomu nara noru na! Noru nara nomu na!

    If you drink, don't drive! If you're driving, don't drink!

    • CommentAuthorTobberoth
    • CommentTimeSep 17th 2008
     # 9

    Oh, I forgot a classic one before. Not really a tongue twister, just an amusing line which can be hard to say correctly.

    庭には二羽鶏がいます。 (niwa ni wa ni wa niwatori ga imasu)
    It means "In the garden, there are two chickens".

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