# Are "cunt" and "twat" less offensive terms in England? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 26, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151 "2012-11-26T14:22:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/21 "2012-11-26T16:00:02Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Not at the same level as ‘dick’ - it’s the most offensive word you can throw around, but as others have pointed out, perhaps we are less offended by swearing generally. TV shows shown after the ‘watershed’ (9pm, when the kiddies are supposed to be in bed) don’t shy away from reflecting real speech, warts and all. > > You sure wouldn’t use it in front of your mum or your boss, though. I guess it’s the way it comes across from the more frequent usage. ‘Cunt’ seems to be one of those banned words, usable only in humor, or in deliberately offensive language. I’m pretty free with the expletives, but this seems to be the one that’s totally NSFW even in a private conversation. I’m not sure why it’s supposed to be more offensive than ‘twat’ or even ‘pussy’ (although ‘pussy’ isn’t always a direct reference to a vagina). ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/22 "2012-11-26T16:06:10Z")
I don’t know, I remember I got into trouble at school once for saying “twat”, innocently believing it to be a mere variant of “twit”. I can still hear the silence that descended in the classroom. Re “cunt”, I’m not sure that it is understood in non-cunting countries that it is an insult used by males and almost exclusively directed at other males (sometimes affectionately, sometimes not, as has been noted). ISTR seeing some shocked reactions on this board at the use of the word, along the lines of how offensive it is to women. I suppose it is, but realise that it is almost never, at least in my experience, directed towards women. (This being the SDMB, somone will probably now say “Really? In our family we routinely addressed our grandma as ‘you dozy old cunt’”.) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/23 "2012-11-26T16:14:33Z")
While I do swear with regularity, I absolutely never say the c-word. It’s just disgusting to me. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/24 "2012-11-26T16:32:24Z")
A friend of mine who grew up in Northern Ireland and London swears to me that “cunting” is used as meaningless intensifier much as we would use “fucking” in the states. So it’s “offensive” in that you wouldn’t use it in polite company, but not likely to get a drink thrown in your face or anything, either. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/25 "2012-11-26T16:39:27Z")
> [@bup](#): > > A friend of mine who grew up in Northern Ireland and London swears to me that “cunting” is used as meaningless intensifier much as we would use “fucking” in the states. > > So it’s “offensive” in that you wouldn’t use it in polite company, but not likely to get a drink thrown in your face or anything, either. According to _The Oxford Dictionary of Ships and the Sea_, “cunting” is what they used to call the groove between strands of twisted rope. Nowadays it’s known by the more refined term _contline_. Similarly, the old naval _cunt splice_ is now the _cut splice_. So evidently the navies think that “cunt” is a vulgar word to be sidestepped. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/26 "2012-11-26T17:00:09Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > …and the same as ‘twat’, though fanny isn’t a swear word, more like a word little girls might use for their lady parts. I prefer ‘poonarni’. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Oddly, “fanny” means the same thing as “cunt” in England. This explains why the boys [can’t have no fanny](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkEimy0xGTk)… :smack: Probably NSFW. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/27 "2012-11-26T17:08:04Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > While I do swear with regularity, I absolutely never say the c-word. It’s just disgusting to me. Didn’t realize you were English. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/28 "2012-11-26T17:59:07Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > “Cuntlapper”? I’ve never even heard that one. Well, they’ve probably got the music turned up loud then. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/29 "2012-11-26T19:41:31Z")
No-one has mentioned the use of “twat”, and occasionally “cunt” as a verb. Usually meaning to hit hard. I twatted him with a half brick. I twatted it upfield. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/30 "2012-11-26T20:31:00Z")
Cunt is _THE_ most offensive word you can use here - and yes, that’s in Ireland. You can say fuck twenty times in a sentence and the priest you’re talking to won’t bat an eye, but you say “cunt” and the whole place comes to a standstill and grown men faint, dogs yelp, car alarms go off, and the dead start rising from their graves. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/31 "2012-11-26T20:43:46Z")
IMHO there’s a huge dichotomy with Cunt. In male-male (I don’t know about female-female) conversation it can be used as a term of opprobrium or of appreciation (but only when you’re on good terms). In mixed-sex company or around children, it is extremely offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/32 "2012-11-26T20:51:14Z")
> [@hammos1](#): > > As a Brit, I’ve noticed that ‘twat’ is used more often in US media than used to be the case- although pronounced to rhyme with ‘hot’ rather than ‘hat’ as is the custom in the UK. Am I right in thinking this is a recent phenomenon, and if so, any idea why it’s caught on? I’ve started a separate thread on the [Pronunciation of “twat”](http://www.boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=673574). ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/33 "2012-11-26T21:51:53Z")
Brits use “cunt” and “twat” in referring to males as well, right? My sources: John Lennon directs the c-word toward Paul in his song _“How do you sleep?”_ (“How do you sleep, ya cunt…”). The movie **The Damned United** , Taylor has Brian Clough apologize to him by repeating, “I apologize unreservedly for being a twat.” Speaking on behalf of the males on this side of the pond, this usage is exceedingly rare. I can’t ever recall hearing a male insult another male by using either of those terms. Also I never realized that “twat” was considered a Britishism that rhymes with “hat” until -again from the movies- Emma Stone’s character in **Easy A** uses it to insult another female. When recounting the story to her parents, she describes what she said in a round-about way saying, “Noun. Definitely slang. Think British, although they pronounce it differently.” ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/34 "2012-11-26T22:16:51Z")
I could probably call my wife a number of things and get nothing more than a severe verbal lashing and the cold shoulder for a week. Calling her a cunt though would get me a fist in the eye. Was the word ‘cunting’ used in the Exorcist? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/35 "2012-11-26T22:23:05Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Not since about 1872. > > There’s a mixed gay/lesbian club in London called Dick and Fanny. Masterful branding, that. > > (Well, for that matter, there’s a lesbian club called ‘Twat Boutique’ which lacks a little in subtlety, I feel). My Irish ancestor was a Fanning, which is uncomfortably close. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/36 "2012-11-26T22:33:28Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > Was the word ‘cunting’ used in the Exorcist? Yes. Regan was, shall we say, pleasuring herself (?) with a crucifix then does the half-way head spin and in a distinct cockney accent says, “Do you see what she did? Your cunting daughter?” ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/37 "2012-11-27T00:02:05Z")
How offensive is “minge” relative to “cunt” in the UK? I’ve always wondered how shocked Dawn was in this scene from The Office. I know she’s uncomfortable with the conversation, but I’ve never heard that word used in the US, so I don’t know if the humor comes from the subject or more from the words themselves. Keith: A lot of crime in America. Dawn: Right. Well, I’ll be careful. Keith: Word of advice: keep your traveller’s cheques in a bum-bag. Dawn: Thanks. I- I’ll buy one. Keith: Well, when you get there? Dawn: Yeah. Keith: Word of warning, then: out there they call them fanny packs. 'Cause fanny means your arse over there… (pause) not your minge. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/38 "2012-11-27T02:07:23Z")
> [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#): > > How offensive is “minge” relative to “cunt” in the UK? “Minge” is all but obsolete… no uses it these days. That was the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/39 "2012-11-27T05:14:37Z")
Got it, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/40 "2012-11-27T05:21:30Z")
I was watching a Sarah Millican routine, shut up I like her, and she asked the audience if they liked swearing. _enthusiastic cheer_"Do you like the word cunt?" _odd sound_ “Ooh, we like swearing but we’re not ok with that word!” Twat she dropped throughout the show regardless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151.md?page=3)