We know what fun tongue twisters are and they can often also be used by kids as a way to help with their language abilities. The Betty Botter Tongue Twister, sometimes mistakenly call Betty Butter, is one of the classic rhymes to challenge the tongue.
The Betty Botter tongue twister is much harder than some of the common rhymes like the Peter Piper Tongue Twister or the Woodchuck Chuck Tongue Twister. This makes it great fun for those who are up for a challenge.
Betty Botter Tongue Twister
Here is the Betty Botter Tongue Twister
Betty Botter had some butter,
“But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter, it would make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter – that would make my batter better.”
So she bought a bit of butter, better than her bitter butter,
and she baked it in her batter, and the batter was not bitter.
So ’twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.
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This tongue twister is fun for both parents and children. It is a good way to encourage young kids to put into practice the different sounds – basically the pronunciation of the “B” sound – found in the Betty Botter tongue twister.
Practise it together with your child and it will be great fun for both you and your child.
Betty Botter Tongue Twister Printable
Download a free Betty Botter Tongue Twister Printable here.
You can also watch a video of the Betty Botter tongue twister above.
There are, of course, many different variations to this tongue twister and there are also nursery rhyme versions of it as well.
What is the Meaning behind the Betty Botter Tongue Twister
The Betty Botter Tongue Twister comes from American author Carolyn Wells. It first appeared in 1899 in Wells’ book called The Jingle Book.
As you can tell, it is about poor Betty Botter who is facing a dilemma about whether or not to put butter into her batter. Presumably Betty is making a cake but she is concerned that the butter she has is not good enough and will result in her cake batter going bitter.
All is solved when Betty Botter finally manages to get higher quality butter to use with her cake batter and so the little rhyme ends with all going well with the batter.
The reason why the Betty Botter tongue twister is so challenging is because of its construction. It makes use of alliteration and this appears in the form of two syllable words like better, batter, Botter and butter.
It is a great way for kids to practise their vowel sounds, allowing them to make a distinction between each of the different vowels that appear in the tongue twister. Try to say it quickly or repeatedly for a real challenge.
It can even be challenging for adults to say quickly. You can try it as an easy party game to play at children’s parties too.
We hope that you have fun with this classic tongue twister!
