If you ever hear anyone begin a sentence, “I bet you can’t say this five-times fast…” you know that you’re in for a verbal challenge. It’s more than likely you’ll be asked if you can recite a poem or nursery rhyme or bit of verse known as a tongue-twister.
Videos by American Songwriter
And one of the most famous of these tongue-twisters is the oceanic offering, “She Sells Seashells.” It’s possible you’re quite familiar with this bit of language and it’s also possible you’ve put your tongue to the test, trying to get each and every word out perfectly. But what is the point of this task and what is the nursery rhyme’s meaning all about? Let’s dive in.
[RELATED: Behind the Hard Working Nursery Rhyme “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe”]
What Exactly Is A Tongue-Twister?
A tongue-twister is a story wrapped up in a linguistic game. They are meant to challenge you mentally and physically—specifically, the dexterity of your tongue and mouth—pushing the speaker to get the words, rhythm and story right without giving up and going, “Blaahhhhhhhhh!” after an unsuccessful but valiant try.
The beauty of this type of oral game is that once the speaker gets the rhyme right, they can attempt to do it faster and faster until their tongue betrays them. It’s meant to be hard and so, that’s the fun of it. Like leaping over hurdles or trying to spring faster than anyone else around. Tongue-twisters were especially popular in the 1800s.
As the industrial age revved up, so did the mouths of willing verbal participants. And one of the most popular, along with others like “Peter Piper,” were “She Sells Seashells,” which was originally published in 1850. And though the term tongue-twister didn’t arrive until 1895, rhymes like “She Sells Seashells” were invented as a literal exercise for articulation. The rhyme itself reads,
She sells sea-shells by the sea-shore.
The shells she sells are sea-shells, I’m sure.
For if she sells sea-shells by the sea-shore
Then I’m sure she sells sea-shore shells.
Why Seashells?
A girl selling seashells down by the seashore is a funny image. Why would one sell seashells by the sea? That doesn’t make sense. That’s where all the shells come from and are prevalent. It’s this absurdity combined with the welcoming image of the beach—a place where most find serene—that sticks in our heads, feeding into the popularity of the rhyme.
The rhyme, which became a popular song in 1908, is said by some to be inspired by Mary Anning, an early collector of fossils. And while that may or may not be true, there is no connection necessary to an actual person for the rhyme to be both fun and challenging.
As far as the meaning of the work, there is no real essence other than a person vending wares down by the beach. The meaning is, thus, in the activity of speaking it out loud.
Final Thoughts
Before the world had an endless stream of TV channels, video games and more, people needed things to entertain themselves. What’s more exercises that promoted diction and articulation were more en vogue, so to speak, as we get further into the past. Eloquence was a sign of good upbringing. So, this tongue-twister sat at the crossroads of all those factors. And because of that and because of its lovely images and silly words, it’s lived on.
Photo by Earl Leaf/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
