# Pronunciation of "twat" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 26, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195 "2012-11-26T20:23:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/1 "2012-11-26T20:23:08Z")
In [this thread](http://www.boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=673528), I noticed this comment: > [@Are "cunt" and "twat" less offensive terms in England?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cunt-and-twat-less-offensive-terms-in-england/642151/19): > > 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? So, how do you say “twat”? ---
**Author:** ![taskmgr.exe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@taskmgr.exe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taskmgr.exe)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/2 "2012-11-26T20:25:15Z")
twɒt ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/3 "2012-11-26T20:31:24Z")
Throat Warbler Mangrove. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/4 "2012-11-26T20:36:14Z")
I’m from the UK, and it rhymes with hat. Pronouncing it any other way over here would make you sound like a, well, you know. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/5 "2012-11-26T20:51:43Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I’m from the UK, and it rhymes with hat. Pronouncing it any other way over here would make you sound like a, well, you know. I find it odd that, currently, a plurality of Americans are saying it rhymes with hot. Where do they hear this word except from Brits or people who are deliberately adding Briticisms to their conversation? Is some type of hypercorrection and/or hyperforeignization happening, like those people who think hot and hat are pronounced the same way in the UK? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/6 "2012-11-26T21:00:08Z")
It definitely rhymes with hot in Canada. The problem with it rhyming with hot or hat in the US is that in some places, hot and hat rhyme! (Upstate New York for example. Perhaps The Detroit area too.) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/7 "2012-11-26T21:03:01Z")
When learning all the dirty words growing up, it was always “rhymes with hot.” And I still stick to that pronunciation; but pretty much every body I’ve ever met from the UK has “rhymed it with hat.” Which I don’t get. I used to play poker with a guy who was from England, who had lived in the states for many years, and his accent had somewhat acclimated, but it was still apparent that he was English. So the first time he whipped out a “twaaaaaat” I thought he was making fun of \*my \*accent. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/8 "2012-11-26T21:03:42Z")
I’m from the UK and personally I’ve only ever pronounced it to rhyme with “hat”. The only times I’ve ever heard it pronounced to ryhme with “hot” is where someone is trying to mask or downplay the profanity. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/9 "2012-11-26T21:07:37Z")
Twat did you say? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/10 "2012-11-26T21:13:11Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Where do they hear this word except from Brits or people who are deliberately adding Briticisms to their conversation? From each other. It’s not a Britishism, it’s firmly embedded in our lexicon too. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/11 "2012-11-26T21:14:41Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > The problem with it rhyming with hot or hat in the US is that in some places, hot and hat rhyme! (Upstate New York for example. Perhaps The Detroit area too.) No, they do not. Both vowels are a little more open than in other areas, but there is a distinct difference. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/12 "2012-11-26T21:24:18Z")
Oh. I’m seriously grateful for these threads, because I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t know what someone was saying if they called someone a “twot” (teehee). I’ve never heard that before. But isn’t it an English thing to say? So are Americans copying it and changing the pronunciation? Is it an odd thing to say for Americans? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/13 "2012-11-26T21:27:37Z")
“Twat,” was always in the “let’s call a vagina something vulgar” lexicon from where I grew up. I had no clue it was supposed to be a Britishism. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/14 "2012-11-26T21:32:28Z")
It’s definitely no “hat,” but it’s not “hot,” either. hat - [hæt] hot - [hɑt] or [hɒt] twat - [twät] ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/15 "2012-11-26T21:33:25Z")
Yeah, in my area it rhymes with “hot” and is not much better than “cunt” as words go. Not something you’d call somebody openly. My sense of the way my Irish cousins use it is more like “twit” which is sillier. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/16 "2012-11-26T21:46:06Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Yeah, in my area it rhymes with “hot” and is not much better than “cunt” as words go. Not something you’d call somebody openly. > > My sense of the way my Irish cousins use it is more like “twit” which is sillier. Yeah, I (English) use it more like “twit” too, though a little naughtier than that. Absolutely not like the c-word, which is not even as bad in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/17 "2012-11-26T23:51:57Z")
If someone ever called me a “Twat” (rhymes with hat), I (until now) would think that that person just made up a word. Now I’ll be on the lookout for it! Bobot, Chicago-ish (While we’re at it, does Cunt now rhyme with Can’t?) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/18 "2012-11-27T00:05:57Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > (While we’re at it, does Cunt now rhyme with Can’t?) It doesn’t in any British English dialect I know of. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/19 "2012-11-27T00:25:38Z")
Sing this: “Tiny twats, with their eyes all aglow…” That’s how you say it. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195/20 "2012-11-27T00:30:31Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > No, they do not. Both vowels are a little more open than in other areas, but there is a distinct difference. Well, I can’t tell the difference. I had female colleague in Ogdensburg who used to tell me “you look hat!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-twat/642195.md?page=2)