绕口令(tongue twister 或 word cramp)是一种传统的口语游戏，各民族语言中都有。在我国过去曾有人提议让刚会说话的幼儿，连续说几十遍“一个烙铁，烙铁一个”来锻炼孩子的口齿，因为稍不留意就会说成“一个老爹，老爹一个”。英国的父母也常让他们的小孩快速反复地说“red lorry, yellow lorry, green lorry.”来锻炼他们的口齿，真可谓有异曲同工之妙。反复朗读能使人口齿伶俐，有助于矫正发音不清，分辨英语中一些类似的元音和辅音。例如，下面两例绕口令，就对学生正确读音有帮助。

    1. The hunter and his huge house hid behind the house.

    2. She sells seashells on the seashore, and the shells she sells are seashells, I am sure. If she sells shells at the seashore, the shells she sells are seashells, for sure.

    对于演员来说，当然要口齿清楚伶俐，所以有的剧团或导演在招考演员时，常要应试者背诵绕口令，以检查其语言流畅的程度。下面就是两段常使用的绕口令：

    At noon I took a good book. And sat by the pool in the wood. I soon took off my boot. And put my foot in the pool. Oh! How cool, how cool.

    另一则是：

    Robert Rolly rolled a round roll round. If Robert Rolly rolled a round roll round, where is the round roll Robert Rolly rolled around?

    人们饮酒过多，讲话就不清楚，也就是人们通常所说，说起话来舌头打卷。因此，英国警察曾让司机跟读下面的绕口令，以检查其是否饮酒过量。

    Little Lily and Little Nelly are writing letters. Let's leave Little Nelly and Little Lily alone.

    Walter was wailing, worrying and watching the wet weather and the wet wind.

    有的牙科医生也让他们的患者朗读绕口令，以便检查新镶的假牙是否合适。下面两个绕口令，因为含有摩擦音[s]而很适合这种需要。

    The sun shines on the small shop signs.

    Sally always suffers from sea-

    sickness when she is at sea.

    甚至有人相信有些绕口令可以医治打嗝。据说当你打嗝时，一口气把“吹笛的彼得”(Peter Piper)这个绕口令读下来，打嗝就会停止。

    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 is the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

    说绕口令，关键是既要说得流利，又要吐字清楚，一气呵成。做到反复数遍而不出错误。如果读者对绕口令有兴趣，不妨将上面这些绕口令反复读或背下来，对你的英语口语水平的提高一定大有裨益。