“Say shibboleth 5 times in a row if you can.”
Shibboleth
Definition (noun): custom, tradition, mode of dress, way of speaking, widely held belief, slogan, catchword, or truism that distinguishes on group from another: (as in widely held belief) “it is a shibboleth that the British are more literate than Americans;” (as in truism) “the shibboleth that crime doesn’t pay has been shattered by a new law which states that theft below $950 is a misdemeanor not a felony;” (as in way of speaking) “the use of “-eh” at the end of every sentence is a shibboleth of Canadian speakers;” (as in custom) “the fact that senior citizens often eat dinner at 4:30pm is a shibboleth that often separates them from younger generations;” (as in catchword) “Lollapalooza was a shibboleth used during WWII to challenge unidentified persons since Japanese people would often pronounce both letters L and R as rolled Rs.”
Pronunciation: shib-uh-leth
About the Word:
From the Bible meaning “ear of grain.” Two tribes, the Ephraimites and the Gileadites, fought a war. The Gileadites defeated the Ephraimites and to catch any fleeing Ephraimites, the Gileadites asked every person they came across to say the word shibboleth. The Ephraimites, who had no sh sound in their language, pronounced the word with an s and were thereby unmasked and slaughtered.