Random: The Announcer's Test

Language is important to me. Born in Rio de Janeiro to Swiss and brazilian parents, then moving to Miami, I knew 4 languages by the age of 8.

In Jerry Lewis's words: "The announcer's test is given to anyone in radio or television who wants to be specifically announcer. And it involves retention, memory, repetition, enunciation. It involves diction. And it involves 10 factors that use every alphabet letter in the alphabet a variety of times."

Thanks in part to my love for all things linguistic, since coming across this on big boss lee's blog, I now recite this as do my dishes.

It has a permanent home in my repertoire of riddles, tongue twisters, and delicious sentences.

Here it is:

One hen.
One hen; two ducks.
One hen; two ducks; three squawking geese.
One hen; two ducks; three squawking geese; four Limerick oysters.
One hen; two ducks; three squawking geese; four Limerick oysters; five
corpulent porpoises.
One hen; two ducks; three squawking geese; four Limerick oysters; five
corpulent porpoises; six pairs of Don Alversos tweezers.
One hen; two ducks; three squawking geese; four Limerick oysters; five
corpulent porpoises; six pairs of Don Alversos tweezers; 7,000
Macedonians in full battle array.
One hen; two ducks; three squawking geese; four Limerick oysters; five
corpulent porpoises; six pairs of Don Alversos tweezers; 7,000
Macedonians in full battle array; eight brass monkeys from the ancient
sacred crypts of Egypt.
One hen; two ducks; three squawking geese; four Limerick oysters; five
corpulent porpoises; six pairs of Don Alversos tweezers; 7,000
Macedonians in full battle array; eight brass monkeys from the ancient
sacred crypts of Egypt; nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic old men
on roller skates with a marked propensity toward procrastination and
sloth.
One hen; two ducks; three squawking geese; four Limerick oysters; five
corpulent porpoises; six pairs of Don Alversos tweezers; 7,000
Macedonians in full battle array; eight brass monkeys from the ancient
sacred crypts of Egypt; nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic old men
on roller skates with a marked propensity toward procrastination and
sloth; 10 lyrical, spherical, diabolical denizens of the deep who hall
stall around the corner of the quo of the quay of the quivery, all at
the same time.

Say that ten times fast!