The Tongue Twister
Red lorry, yellow lorry. Red lorry, yellow lorry. Red lorry, yellow lorry. Red lorry, yellow lorry.
Why Is It Hard?
The R and L sounds require almost identical mouth positions, making them easy to swap. Lorry appears in every phrase, so your brain latches onto it and starts producing lolly, roary, or lorry lorry instead. The repetition means any mistake compounds with each round.
History and Origin
Red lorry yellow lorry is one of the most enduring British tongue twisters, with the word lorry being the British English term for a large truck. It has been used in BBC radio presenter training for decades as a test of clear diction. The phrase is deceptively short, which makes it feel easy at first, but its difficulty becomes obvious the moment you try to say it ten times quickly.
Tips for Saying It
For R, curl your tongue slightly backward without touching anything. For L, press the tip of your tongue firmly to the ridge behind your front teeth. Alternate R and L slowly: R L R L. Start at half speed and only double it when you can complete four rounds perfectly.
Explore more tongue twisters on our site. Try the hard tongue twisters collection or browse tongue twisters for kids. Check out the full English tongue twisters list for more classics.