Bodily Oddities

Tongue twisting

Also called: Tongue turning · Tongue rotation

Turning the tongue on its side so the edges face up and down, or all the way over. Between 12% and 36% of people can twist it at least halfway.

Mouth and throat Muscle Trick Voluntary Try it Party trick

How common

12–36% About a quarter of people who can twist can do it to one side only.

Can you do this?

How it works

Tongue twisting means rotating the front of the tongue around its long axis. A half twist puts one edge on top and the other edge at the bottom. A full twist turns the tongue upside down, so the underside faces up.

The tongue’s inner muscles change its shape2. The twist probably comes from using these muscles more on one side than the other. One side shortens and lifts. The other side stays long and drops. The tongue rotates between them. About a quarter of people who can twist can do it to one side only4.

Between 12% and 36% of people can twist the tongue at least halfway34. The low figure comes from a study of Han Chinese people in Shaanxi, China3. The high figure comes from a study of Dutch adults4.

Tongue rolling can be learned by practice1. Twisting may be similar, but this is not well studied.

Try it

  1. Push your tongue out a little and keep it relaxed.
  2. Try to lift the left edge while keeping the right edge down. The tongue should start to tilt.
  3. Push the tilt further. A half twist puts one edge straight up.
  4. Now try the other direction. Some people find one side much harder.
  5. Check in a mirror or on your phone camera.

Is it a problem?

No. Being able to twist your tongue, or not being able to, has no known effect on speech, taste, or health. It is a party trick, not a medical trait, and there is nothing about it worth mentioning to a doctor. A sudden change in tongue movement or control, especially with slurred speech or weakness, is a different and unrelated matter and should be checked.

Sources and further material

  1. Wikipedia Tongue rolling Defines twisting as turning the tongue about 90 degrees each way. Gives prevalence for rolling only.
  2. Wikipedia Tongue
  3. PubMed The traits of five types of tongue movement in Han of Shaanxi, China He X et al., 2012 Tongue twisting in 12.6% of 429 Han Chinese people in Shaanxi.
  4. NCBI Five Specific Tongue Movements in a Healthy Population Kappert KDR et al., 2021 387 Dutch adults. Twisting left 36.1%, right 35.6%. Only 75% of those who can twist can do it on both sides.

Updated , first published .

Missing something your body does? Tell me about it.

Mouth Trick

Tongue rolling

Between 65% and 84% of people can curl the sides of the tongue up into a tube. For decades it was taught as a simple one-gene trait. It is not.

65–84% of people
Mouth Trick

Tongue folding

Folding the tip of the tongue backward over itself inside the mouth. Studies find that between 1.5% and 27.5% of people can do it.

1.5–27.5%
Mouth Trick

Cloverleaf tongue

Folding the tongue into three lobes, like a clover leaf. In one Dutch study, about 15% of adults could do it. It is usually called the hardest tongue shape.

About 15% (one Dutch sample)
Mouth Trick

Pointed tongue

Making the tip of the tongue narrow and sharp, like a pencil point. About 55% of people in one Chinese survey can do it. It and tongue rolling are the two most common tongue tricks.

~55%