The first tongue twisters that most kids of my generation learned was “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.  A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.  If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?” 

The two others that I remember well (and which to this day I can recite perfectly) are:  “Rubber buggy bumpers” and “Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore.”  I was told to repeat them three times quickly and of course I remember them coming out “Rubber bubby mumpers – Rugger buddy buppers – Buggy bubber bumpers.”  The “Sally” one came out equally bad. 

I haven’t given much thought to tongue twisters until a few weeks ago when someone challenged me to say “I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.”   Now that is not one for the faint of heart.  Especially if you have to say it while holding your tongue.   Fortunately this is one I learned from Donna early on (must be an East Coast thing) so I took a breath and spat it out.  Flawlessly.  Raised a few eyebrows that did. . . .  

If anyone gets bored, here are 549 tongue twisters  you can practice (see http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/en.htm ).  And there are tongue twisters for children (which is probably a good educational tool) – see   http://www.funenglishgames.com/funstuff/tonguetwisters.html.   Excuse me now as I wish to wash my Irish wristwatch. . . .