165 Hilarious Telephone Phrases & Tongue Twisters for All Ages

Telephone is a hilarious party game for all ages in which players take turns whispering a secret word or phrase to each other to see how much it changes by the time it reaches the last person. One of the trickiest things about the game, though, is choosing a good phrase. Luckily, we’re here to help! In this article, we’ve gathered the best Telephone game phrases and tongue twisters for adults, kids, and teenagers sure to make your next game is a success. Plus, learn how to play classic Telephone and other variations of the game.

Funny Telephone Game Phrase Ideas

For kids: Wacky worms do the wiggly dance.
For adults: I was voted most likely to become a cat lady in high school.
Tongue twisters: If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?

Section 1 of 14:

Best Telephone Game Phrases

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Go for a funny phrase that’s easy to misinterpret. Telephone is all about misinterpretation, so it’s no fun if you choose a phrase that’s too simple. The best Telephone phrases often involve rhyming, alliteration, and/or words that simply don’t make sense together. Here are some examples:^{[1]
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- The sound of a raspberry is pppphhbbbbhhtttt
- Can you say what I see and see what I say?
- Mom’s making meatballs to munch.
- Pass me the pink potatoes.
- The funny bunny hid the colored candy in the colored can.
- Which witch is which?
- Thick thieves threw thread.
- Balding boys bounce babies.
- A short, sharp seal sat in silence.
- Can you can an uncanned can of tuna?
- My fancy favorite food is fried frogs.
- Rubber baby buggy bumpers
- Surreptitious superstitions
- Willie’s weary of wondering and worry.
- How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Section 2 of 14:

Funny Telephone Game Phrases

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Make your friends laugh out loud with a hilarious phrase. Choosing weird and funny phrases is part of what makes Telephone such a fun game. Watch the confused looks on your friends’ faces as they try to interpret the strange sentence they heard. Here are some examples:^{[2]
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- Would you rather put toffee in your coffee or brie in your tea?
- Mickey Mouse enjoys raw fish.
- Giggling girls gulp guavas.
- Zig zagging xylophones and zebras
- Twelve tumbling purple twins tweaked turnips
- Wishy washy worms wash water
- Forsooth! What ho! Hey nonny nonny! Prithee! Yowzers!
- You'll never believe what the person next to me just told me.
- I hope the ghost that's living in my body doesn't move over to you while I'm whispering in your ear.
- One time, I dreamed that there were worms in my nostrils.
- Please forgive my antelope for being rude to your handbag.
- Totally bogus toads sowed the sod by the road bog!
- Burger burger burger burger booger bugle.
- I put the staples in the stables and the stablers in the staplers.
- Can you catfish a cactus for practice?

Section 3 of 14:

Telephone Game Tongue Twisters

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Choose a hard phrase to trip everyone up. If your phrase is too short or too simple, other players will likely understand it more easily and it won’t get changed too much. To make the game more interesting for everyone, choose a hard phrase or a tongue twister. Then, laugh as everyone stumbles over their words trying to say it correctly! Here are some examples:^{[3]
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- She sells seashells by the seashore.
- She sees cheese.
- Greek grapes, Greek grapes, Greek grapes
- Four fine fresh fish for you
- If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?
- He threw three free throws.
- A happy hippo hopped and hiccupped.
- Can you can a can as a canner can a can?
- Dubble bubble gum bubbles double
- Fresh French fried fly fritters
- Ellie has eleven elves in her elm tree.
- I saw a kitten eating chicken in the kitchen.
- We need moldy mothballs to keep the moody mummies quiet.
- Can you catfish a cactus for practice?
- The computer computes compact computations.

Section 4 of 14:

Silly/Nonsense Telephone Game Phrases

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Make up a nonsensical phrase to confuse your friends. The stranger your phrase, the more likely it is to get changed throughout the game. Think of the most random combination of words possible—bonus points if they rhyme or start with the same letter. Here are some examples:^{[4]
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- Periwinkle hippopotamus drive-thru
- Green wolverine trampoline
- Eloquent original kangaroo
- Special cupcake sauce
- Danny’s rat likes lemons.
- The fish flies north.
- The dungeon is full of pink bandaids.
- Have you seen my favorite banana?
- Donald Duck plays the harp in the bathroom.
- Chimichangas change chapters.
- A clam crams cream in a cramped can.
- Big brother beats beef.
- Ice mice are not nice.
- Nice namby-pamby nickels
- Summertime swimming in swarming spaghetti

Section 5 of 14:

Telephone Game Phrases for Kids

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Come up with a fun, age-appropriate sentence. Telephone is a popular game to play at children’s birthday parties, so there are a ton of cute and silly phrases to choose from. If you’re struggling to come up with something, choose an animal and have it do something it wouldn’t do in real life, like dance or wear a tutu. Here are some examples:^{[5]
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- Blue bubbles in the bath
- Mom has many magazines.
- Why does your owl growl?
- My pig has a big wig.
- My mom is a dinosaur.
- Swimming in spaghetti is fun.
- Dance with my dragon.
- Wacky worms do the wiggly dance.
- Llamas wear colorful pajamas.
- There is a spider behind you!
- Socks slide on a slippery floor.
- Let’s play bing bong, ping pong.
- Don’t worry, be silly.
- Superheroes save the day from the big bad villains.
- The birdy in the big tree goes tweet tweet tweet.

Section 6 of 14:

Telephone Game Phrases for Adults

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Choose something a little more mature if you’re playing with adults. If you want to lean away from the silly words and phrases meant for little kids, think of some popular quotes or idioms to stump your friends. Choose something sarcastic or even make your friends giggle by picking something a little creepy. Here are some examples:^{[6]
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- Can I lick your toes?
- Walk softly but carry a big stick.
- I still think Nicholas Cage would make a good Superman.
- Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back.
- Why don’t you bathe daily?
- For Christmas this year, I’m asking Santa for an Amazon gift card.
- The only thing better than a tall, dark, and handsome man is one carrying a pizza box.
- Can I nibble on your earlobe?
- I was voted most likely to become a cat lady in high school.
- Is she doing the cha cha in bed?
- Houston, we have a problem.
- I’ll have what she’s having.
- Can you rub this oil in my back?
- When you are in Rome, do as Roman people do.
- You’re gonna need a bigger boat.

Section 7 of 14:

Telephone Game Phrases for Teenagers

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Think of some tricky phrases for your next sleepover. If you’re a teenager, it may be difficult to come up with a good Telephone phrase that doesn’t feel too silly. Sometimes, though, leaning in to the silliness is a good thing! Or, pick a fun tongue twister or a phrase from your favorite TV show or movie. Here are some examples:
- My pet rock will not bite.
- What’s the deal, banana peel?
- When I grow up, I want to be a Pokémon trainer.
- I farted, and it smells like a cheesy burger.
- I’m sorry I haven’t changed my socks in days.
- Grandma’s jello tastes like chicken.
- I dreamt that I sailed across the ocean on a bicycle.
- That’s what she said.
- I am not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.
- The worst thing about prison was the dementors.
- I wash my hands wearing my wristwatch.
- I wish I may I wish I might wish the wish I wish tonight.
- Is there a synonym for cinnamon?
- Is my breath really bad right now, or is it just me?
- A Taco Bell chicken quesadilla with extra creamy jalapeño sauce

Section 8 of 14:

Telephone Game Phrases for the Workplace

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Choose phrases appropriate for the workplace. If you happen to be playing Telephone as a team-building exercise at work, make sure the phrase you choose is funny while still being work-appropriate. In fact, consider basing your phrase around something to do with your job. Your coworkers will likely appreciate your sense of humor. Here are some examples:
- I should close a million tabs that I never look at.
- I am not lazy, I’m in energy-saving mode.
- I just want to find a parking spot every day.
- My exercise routine is running out of money.
- I have no idea what I’m doing, but I do it very well.
- I lost my lunch last week at the library.
- You need to break a few eggs to make an omelet.
- Every why has an of which.
- Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
- If you notice this notice, you will notice this notice is not worth noticing.
- Here come the meat sweats.
- Irish wrist watch, Swiss wrist watch
- I am the boss, applesauce.
- Jinx, you owe me a coke!
- The queen sat on her throne and ate thorny kumquats.

Section 9 of 14:

Telephone Game Phrases for Students

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Stump your classmates with a silly sentence. Whether you’re in elementary school, middle school, high school, or even college, playing Telephone is a great way to bond with your classmates. Try to think of a phrase related to something you’re learning or just choose a random sentence. Remember to pick something school-appropriate, or you may get in trouble! Here are some examples:
- Education is important, but big muscles are importanter.
- When I was six, I had a pet guinea pig that I named “Sir Piggysworth.”
- I like to read in the shower.
- Classmates climb cars for cash.
- That test was tasty.
- The sun is green.
- Pants go on your arms.
- Hello, Mr. Mustache.
- The moon is made of cheese.
- Harmonious hummingbirds hum happily.
- Melodious mermaids mesmerize mariners.
- Red leather, yellow leather
- What if we all yelled "CRABAPPLE!" in unison right now?
- I recently retired from the applesauce factory.
- You know when you're in an exam and can't stop coughing?

Section 10 of 14:

Telephone Game Phrases for Halloween

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Choose a spooky tongue twister for Halloween. Telephone is a great game to play at Halloween parties for all ages. To stay on theme, try to come up with words or phrases related to the holiday, like ghosts, witches, and black cats. Here are some examples:^{[7]
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- A spooky skeleton danced in a pumpkin patch.
- A friendly witch brewed a cauldron of spooky soup.
- Ghostly gum tastes gooey.
- Dracula drinks dark drool.
- Scarecrows steal soft sandwiches.
- It’s just a bunch of hocus pocus.
- Trick or treat, smell my feet.
- Creepy crawler critters crawl through creepy crawly craters
- Which witch wished which wicked wish?
- The ochre ogre ogled the poker.
- If big, black bats could blow bubbles, how big of bubbles would big black bats blow?
- Gobbling gargoyles gobbled gobbling goblins.
- Ghostly ghouls gather gleefully to golf on ghostly golf courses.
- Several spooky slimy spiders spun sulking by the sea
- Professional pumpkin pickers are prone to pick the plumpest pumpkins.

Section 11 of 14:

Single Word Telephone Game Phrases

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Choose a silly word to make everyone laugh. Longer phrases tend to change more dramatically when playing Telephone, but it’s fun to play with single words, too! Aim for words that sound silly or are hard to pronounce—this is especially funny if you’re playing with young children who may not have heard them before. Here are some examples:^{[8]
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- Extraterrestrial
- Triumphant
- Gobbledygook
- Flibbertigibbet
- Snickersnee
- Kerfuffle
- Brouhaha
- Subterranean
- Mitochondria
- Qantas
- Abibliophobia
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
- Hodgepodge
- Hullabaloo
- Stumblebum

Section 12 of 14:

How to Play the Telephone Game

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You don't need a specific number of people to play Telephone, but because Telephone is a game revolving around mishearing phrases, the more players you have, the better. Have everyone sit or stand in a circle or a straight line. Make sure the players are close enough to whisper into the next player’s ear, but not close enough that they can hear others whispering.^{[9]
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Any word or phrase will do, as long as it’s appropriate for the setting and the age range of the players, though longer and more complicated phrases tend to be funnier. The player can only whisper the phrase once, whether the other person hears them or not.^{[10]
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Keep passing the phrase until it reaches the last player. Each player will whisper the phrase they heard to the next person in line, being careful not to let others overhear. The final player in the circle or line will then announce what they heard to the rest of the group. The final phrase is usually completely different from the original, which is what makes the game so fun!^{[11]
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- If you want to continue the game, move the last player to the first player position and restart with a new phrase.

Section 13 of 14:

Telephone Game Variations

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It’s also possible to play a version of Telephone with teams, which may be a good idea if you have a lot of players. Split everyone into two teams of equal size, and have a moderator choose a word or phrase for both teams. The game proceeds as usual, and whichever team ends with a phrase closest to the original wins.^{[12]
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Rumors (also known as Gossip or Rumor Has It) is very similar to Telephone, except players intentionally change one or two words of the phrase when it’s whispered to them. The point of the game is to see how much the phrase gets twisted, just like rumors spread.^{[13]
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Movement is a mix between Telephone and Charades. Have all players stand in a line, facing the same direction. The first player will then tap the next player on their shoulder, have them turn around, and perform a silly movement or dance. That player will do the same for the next and so on until the last player reveals the final dance.^{[14]
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In this game, the first player chooses a word and begins to draw that image with a single line. They cannot lift the pencil, and when they do, it’s the next player’s turn. Each player is told the word so they can continue the drawing, except the last player. The last player must try to guess the word by looking at the drawing.^{[15]
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Each player starts by writing a phrase on top of a piece of paper, then they pass the papers clockwise. Everyone then draws the image of the phrase they were given, folds the paper so the original word is hidden, then passes the paper again. The players must then write down what they think the image depicts, and the process starts all over again. The game ends when the players have their original piece of paper so they can laugh at how different the final drawing is from the original phrase.^{[16]
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This works the same way as the original Telephone game, except you choose a phrase from a language other than your own. This is especially fun if the other players don’t speak that language, as the phrase will likely be dramatically changed by the end.

Section 14 of 14:

Why play Telephone?

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Playing Telephone is a great way for children and people learning to speak English (or whatever language they’re playing in) to learn active listening skills. They must be able to listen closely and pay careful attention in order to pass the message along correctly.^{[17]
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In Telephone, it just takes one person mishearing a phrase to change its meaning entirely. This can serve as a warning against gossip and to take rumors with a grain of salt.^{[18]
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Playing Telephone can promote relaxation, laughter, and group bonding. It’s a fun game to play when a group of people (like a class of students) need to destress, and it still teaches valuable lessons.

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If you’re playing with little kids, make sure the phrase you choose isn’t too difficult. Feel free to make it more difficult for older kids, teenagers, and adults.

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