It is used mostly for shock value. It is definitely a conversation stopper.
If you were in a professional environment and you called someone in a meeting a cunt, there’s a very good chance you would be fired for it.
OTOH, I heard Aretha Franklin sing about it at the inauguration. “My cunt tree tis of thee…” 
It comes down to if it’s not in use to much it;'s more effective for shock value. The more shock value the more offensive it rates.
To my surprise, it’s actually very offensive - and I’m American! It doesn’t offend me personally, but I know it offends many girls who casually throw around such phrases as christfuck, etc. Throw in a “cunt”, however, and they stop dead in their tracks.
I’ve had this thought too- and I’m American!..
Michael Crawford tells a story of telling an American (I can’t think of who) in the crew of an theatre company “You can’t.” With Crawford’s British accent, the guy heard “You c**t.” Or so Crawford claimed.
The guy went to a very high end jewelry story, ordered an expensive watch, had it engraved on the back “To MC–You C**T.” The store employee was totally taken aback.
What did you say sir?
You C**T. You do want me to spell it?
No, we know how to spell it sir.
Guy gave the watch to Crawford.
When Crawford flopped playing Count Von Krolock in “Dance of the Vampire” and Count Fosco in “Woman in White” both on Broadway, someone typed “Crawford has proved he can’t play a C*unt. (Did my finger slip?).”
Once, a bunch of us were playing one of those party games - you know the one where someone’s an emcee and throws out a category, then you all write what you think he’ll pick as the best answer, then he reads them all and picks. OK.
Category is, “The worst word in the English language.”
I immediately say, “I can’t even write it!”
My husband, brothers, and brother-in-law were all, “C’mon, Snicks, yes you can. We’re all gonna…” You know, razzing me.
So I write it down and pass it on.
My brother-in-law’s the emcee, and gathers up all the answers. “Motherfucker, motherfucker, motherfucker,” he cycles through the entries. Then he gets to mine.
And stops dead.
And I say, “Hey, if I had to write it, you have to say it.”
“Cunt,” he says, in a tiny, small voice.
I won that round.
Here in the States, it’s definitely one of the worst, most offensive, most crass and crude things one can say. But there are certainly people who deserve it. Ann Coulter, for one.
It’s regarded as the most offensive word by the makers of British telly and is rarely heard on a programme, but as others have mentioned it’s pretty common in everyday language here.
I do have a theory that part of its lack of offensiveness is that many British dialects pronounce couldn’t as cunt. After hearing it in that context so often, hearing it as an insult isn’t really shocking.
By the by, I find it more offensive when used for vagina then I do when used as an insult.
I think that the perceived offensiveness of the C word lessens as you move further north in the UK. In parts of Scotland and the North of England you’ll hear it relatively often and it’s certainly not the conversation stopper it seems to be in the US.
True story:
I was standing at the bar in a pub in Dunfermline one evening, when the barmaid asked if anyone was waiting to be served. Before I could say anything the little guy sitting at the bar next to me points at me and says “Aye, this cunt here I think”.
Thing is - I am 100% certain that he meant nothing offensive by it, it was just a normal word for him to use.
I’m not saying that that’s a normal occurrence, but it does illustrate the differing attitudes to the word in some parts of the country.
In general in the UK it’s viewed as the most offensive of the common swearwords and I think it’s the only one what’s not allowed on TV, although I’m sure I’ve heard it once or twice.
I quite like the fact that it’s the only swearword which hasn’t had its offensiveness diminished through overuse as it gives me somewhere to go when I really need it. For that reason I think it needs to be viewed as a precious resource to be used sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.
United States here. One of the funniest/hottest women I’ve ever dated loved using the word. It seemed like her personal mission in life to rehabilitate (habilitate?) “cunt” and “twat” in the lexicon.
Strangely enough, the words could be used to describe her quite accurately. Ahhh, irony.
Me? I’ve used the word a few times, but it’s always an atomic bomb-- i.e., never in a million years would I use it at work (and I swear like a sailor at work).
Even in the boudoir it’s rare-- it adds something special to the extra dirty talk, that’s for sure, but you have to use it like you mean it, or else you’re liable to make your partner laugh ;-).
On the other hand, do not use the “F” word (as in fanny) in Britian. It’s their equivalent of our “C” word.
Trust the Brits to drive on the wrong side of the road.
It does refer to ladybits, aye, but it’s not offensive at all. It’s a term used by young children.
Fanny is actually used as a (mild) term of abuse in Glasgow - but I think that might be a west coast of Scotland thing.
Also, given that the word “pants” is used in the UK to refer to underwear, the phrase “Your fanny looks great in those pants” takes on a vastly different meaning depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re on.
There was an interesting discussion on these boards about the pronunciation of “can’t” in Love Is the Drug by Roxy Music. The singer was English and some people heard his pronunciation as “cunt,” insisting even though it didn’t make any sense in the context.
I’m American, and I grew up not knowing it’s a curse word. Being raised by a single feminist mother, it was just as common at home as “butt” or “boob”. Using it as a word for a body part, it has no shock value at all to me. As an insult, it’s no worse than “bitch”, IMHO. “Motherfucker” is the worst I can think of, and even that’s been diluted by overuse. Hmmm…project of the day; come up with a swear word I haven’t worn out yet.
Exactly my take on it. I will refer to the c-word (“I’ll leave when I’m good and ready”) but have said the word itself maybe once or twice ever, and very carefully.
What’s the pronunciation of “twat”? Like hat, or like hot? Or something else?
Had anyone complained and you worked in our company, you would have been cleaning out your desk as soon as it was confirmed. No strikes for that one here.
Its that bad. Using it at work (along with “the N word”) puts your job at risk.
Which doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a use or a place in conversation, should the conversation demand it.
Like hat. The word twot does exist, but I don’t think it has as many uses as twat (“I got twatted last night and ended up twatting some twat in the twat”)
Twat does not rhyme with hat or cat, it does rhyme with swat, hot and fraught. This from an American who uses the same vowel in cat, hat, and path.
Ben Elton wrote the libretto for a show called The Beautiful Game about young male Irish soceer players. The language reflects the ordinary language of young male Irish soceer players. The imported cast recording had a sticker warning our fragile American ears about the language.
When the cast recording was issued as a USA release, they decided to change some of the offensive words. They replaced “crap” with “twat.”
I swear to whoever is running the show, I am not making that up.
You’re right there about TV in the US. I was watching “Only Fools and Horses” on PBS one night and I thought that there was a problem with my TV until I realized that Dell had called someone a tightarse and a few other words of a similar level of offensiveness or sillyness. Because of the extreme fear of being fined by the FCC they decided that they couldn’t possible allow sensitive American ears to hear such a word.