She stood on the balcony inexplicably mimicking him hiccupping
She stood on the balcony inexplicably mimicking him hiccupping
She stood on the balcony inexplicably mimicking him hiccupping
Why Is It Hard?
The second half of this sentence is the trap: inexplicably (in-ex-plic-ab-ly) is a five-syllable word that is hard to pronounce even slowly. Mimicking and hiccupping both end in -icking, forcing the same pattern twice in quick succession. The phrase him hiccupping creates a near-impossible h-h collision. Most speakers collapse somewhere around inexplicably.
History
She stood on the balcony inexplicably mimicking him hiccupping is a modern tongue twister, thought to have originated in British comedy circles in the late 20th century. It has been popularised by drama schools and speech coaches as an advanced diction exercise. The vivid absurd image of someone standing on a balcony mimicking hiccups makes it memorable despite its length.
Tips for Saying It
- Master inexplicably before anything else: in-ex-plic-ab-ly, five distinct syllables.
- Practise mimicking him hiccupping separately until the im-ing-ic sounds are clean.
- Run the first half (she stood on the balcony) as a calm warm-up before the hard section.
More English Tongue Twisters
- Hard Tongue Twisters — hardest twisters in English
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Find hundreds more on alltonguetwisters.com.