Peter Piper

"Peter Piper" is an English-language nursery rhyme and well-known alliteration tongue-twister. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19745.[1]

For other uses, see Peter Piper (disambiguation).

"Peter Piper"
Illustration from Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation (1836 American ed.)
Nursery rhyme
Published1813

Lyrics

The traditional version, as published in John Harris' Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation in 1813, is:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?[2]

Common modern versions include:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick
if he picked a peck of pickled peppers?

Origins

The earliest version of this tongue-twister was published in Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation by John Harris (1756–1846) in London in 1813, which includes a one-name tongue-twister for each letter of the alphabet in the same style. However, the rhyme was apparently known at least a generation earlier.[3] Some authors have identified the subject of the rhyme as Pierre Poivre, an eighteenth‑century French horticulturalist and government administrator of Mauritius, who once investigated the Seychelles' potential for spice cultivation.[4][5]

Peter Piper Principle

The Peter Piper Principle is a cognitive error that people make, where they tend to confuse two words that resemble each other; in particular, when the first letter(s) are the same. Studies have shown that this applies when people confuse the names of other people (although other tendencies also apply).[6][7]

Novelists are well aware of the peril of giving two characters names that start with the same letter, because readers have a tendency to get them confused.[8][9] Names of medications also tend to be confused when they start with the same few letters.[10]

References
  1. "English Folk Dance and Song Society Song Index". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  2. "Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Pepper nursery rhyme music and lyrics".
  3. H. Carpenter and M. Prichard, The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature (Oxford University Press, 1984), p. 408.
  4. Hassall, S.; Hassall, P.J. (1988). "Exploration, Discovery and Settlement". Seychelles. Places and People of the World. Chelsea House. p. 26. ISBN 0-7910-0104-0.
  5. Lionnet, Guy (1972). "Geography, Geology and Government". The Seychelles. The Islands Series. Stackpole Books (U.S.)/David & Charles (UK). p. 28. ISBN 0-8117-1514-0.
  6. Deffler, Samantha A.; Fox, Cassidy; Ogle, Christin M.; Rubin, David C. (22 April 2016). "Table 3 Phonetic Similarity Between Correct Name and Misname". Memory & Cognition. Springer. 44 (7): 989–999. doi:10.3758/s13421-016-0613-z. PMID 27106910. S2CID 26651199.
  7. Marissa Higgins, Marissa Higgins (19 May 2016). "This Is Why You Confuse People's Names Sometimes". Bustle. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  8. Weiland, K.M. (23 March 2011). "How to Avoid Confusing Readers With Similar Character Names". Helping Writers Become Authors. Retrieved 2 October 2022. When an author has given names beginning with the same letter to more than one character, this can confuse readers.
  9. Tunley, Alison (17 May 2022). "Alphabetic name confusion & failing to keep up with the Kardashians". Rosetta Translation. Retrieved 2 October 2022. Novelists are well aware of the peril of giving two characters names that start with the same letter because readers have a tendency to get them confused.
  10. "ISMP List of Confused Drug Names". Institute for Safe Medication Practices. Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). 28 February 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
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