Dear LPG readers, 

I have mentioned in previous writings that I am one of the world’s insomniacs which can often be seen as a bad thing, not only because those of us who become affected by the condition usually spend a lot of our days doing the sleeping that we missed out on during the night, but because despite the radio television and reading material that is available to us these days, many still find those small waking hours the biggest challenge of every day.  

I thought I had adopted the habit of midnight surfing as the answer to keeping myself busy until I feel the need to snuggle up, close my eyes, and try to doze off again.

I recently decided to focus on a tongue twister or two to keep my brain ticking over.  I remembered trying some of them out during my school days and often being left humiliated because one of the other pupils could say it better than I.  I found myself having another go very badly in the middle of a recent night, while occasionally glancing at my dentures, which were resting in their nightly soak in the glass of their special solution.  I am so glad that I live alone, and no one was around to hear the results.

But did you know that Peter Piper is thought of as the reason that we all have a go at getting our mouths around some of these most perplexing of phrases?  He is very fictional and was first referred to in a book called Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation.  A London-based author, John Harris, got this particular ball rolling in 1813.  

Since then, we have been grappling with Sally and her seashells, screaming for ice cream and who can forget Fuzzy Wuzzy.  All these characters and more are purported to improve our speech and mental organisational skills if repeated sufficiently, and there are so many of them to get to grips with.

While online, I found a whole collection of new verbal challenges, and many have now been written to challenge the tongues of other nations, which might help pass the time and improve the minds of any other insomniacs out there on an early morning soon.  I have asked LPG to leave a few for you to try. 

If you haven't had a go for a while, why not try to pick a peck of pickled peppers with Peter Piper?  If you are like me, it will be a fun but also frustrating early morning challenge without your falsies. However, the inevitable biting of your tongue will leave fewer sore patches, with only your gums being used for accidental incisions. Eating breakfast later in the day will be a less painful consequence. 

NF, Crofton Park

NF suggests that you get your gnashers around some of these …

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… an e-version of that book that supposedly started it all…

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