Q1.
I. Here is a tongue twister about 'weather'. Practice saying it as fast as you can. — 'Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not, whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot, we'll weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.'
Answer
How to practise it. Do not begin fast. Say it three times very slowly, making every word distinct; then at normal speed; then as fast as you can without slurring. Speed comes from accuracy, never the other way round.
What makes it hard: the tongue twister uses three different words that sound almost identical, one after another.
| Word | Part of speech | Meaning here |
|---|---|---|
| whether | conjunction | if… or not — 'whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not' |
| weather | noun | the state of the atmosphere — fine, cold, hot |
| to weather | verb | to come through something safely — 'we'll weather the weather' means we will get through it |
| whatever | determiner | no matter what |
The clever line is 'we'll weather the weather'. The same spelling is used twice with two completely different meanings — first as a verb (survive), then as a noun (the climate). That is a pun. Once you know the sense of the line, saying it becomes far easier, because you are speaking meaning rather than sound.
Try this: Other tongue twisters worth practising for the same sounds are 'She sells sea shells by the sea shore' (/s/ and /ʃ/) and 'Red lorry, yellow lorry' (/r/ and /l/). Record yourself once at the start of the week and once at the end; the difference is usually surprising.