# twat **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637 "2018-04-02T13:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/21 "2018-04-02T15:54:41Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > FMaybe I need to read seamier stuff. 😉 Marriage vows for fabric? - Do you, piece of fabric, wish to be joined together with this piece of fabric… 😛 The only way I can imagine it being pronounced with an ‘a’ sound is in New England, as in, “Pahk the cah, you twaat” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/22 "2018-04-02T16:30:33Z")
“Twat did you say? I cunt hear you. I have an ear infucktion.” ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/23 "2018-04-02T16:39:50Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > “Twat did you say? I cunt hear you. I have an ear infucktion.” I hate to say this but we had this same little ditty when we were young but it had a 4th part, “Scum closer”. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/24 "2018-04-02T18:17:58Z")
I always assumed it rhymed with swat. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/25 "2018-04-02T18:37:26Z")
So many people talking past each other. It rhymes with cat in the UK. The way many people in the UK pronounce “cat” [kat], it sounds more like the American “cot” [kɔt] than the American “cat” [kæt], even though it’s really a third vowel. So for an American, depending on dialect, rhymes-with-cot might be closer (but will still sound like “twot” to a British person) than rhymes-with-cat. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/26 "2018-04-02T18:46:45Z")
Does it depend on whether you’re talking about [Twatt, Orkney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twatt,_Orkney) or [Twatt, Shetland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twatt,_Shetland)? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/27 "2018-04-02T18:53:48Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > So many people talking past each other. > > It rhymes with cat in the UK. > > The way many people in the UK pronounce “cat” [kat], it sounds more like the American “cot” [kɔt] than the American “cat” [kæt], even though it’s really a third vowel. > > So for an American, depending on dialect, rhymes-with-cot might be closer (but will still sound like “twot” to a British person) than rhymes-with-cat. Several Brits [saying “cat”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6ZR3um4q20) a lot. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/28 "2018-04-02T18:54:18Z")
Please refer to the parting conversation between Hedley Lamarr and Lili Von Shtupp in the venerable cinema classic “Blazing Saddles” Cot all the way. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/29 "2018-04-03T02:04:19Z")
Hmmm, the two times I can think of off the top of my head of a British person saying “cat”, they pronounce it as cæt. Actually I was _completely sure_ of this before I double checked just due to my sound memory alone. However, one of these examples he pronounces it _both_ ways, first as cæt and then as a more intermediate cat… [phenominal cat](https://youtu.be/upWnwfzA_i8?t=21) by the Kinks. The other example however that comes to mind was even better than I had remembered. Not only does [Syd Barrett](https://youtu.be/f35gUESUFvU?t=25) distinctively say cæt several times in Lucifer Sam, but the chorus even goes “that cæt’s something I c_a_n’t explain”, when most Americans pronounce both words with an æ. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/30 "2018-04-03T08:07:15Z")
Twat and Twot were two distinct terms when I was growing up; Twat being the term to describe an annoyingly stupid person (often a determinedly or viciously stupid one) Twot was more like an equivalent for ‘dork’ or ‘doofus’ - a person whose stupidity was ingrained, but sort of hapless in nature. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/31 "2018-04-03T08:45:09Z")
If you’ve only ever heard it written and not spoken, you must not watch a lot of British comedy. In British spoken vernacular / comedy the word seems ubiquitous to me. Pops up a lot in Gervais/Merchant stuff. Written out, I see it used liberally by the many British rock musicians who I follow or am friends with on Facebook. In the British spoken pronunciation it (the sound of the ‘a’ in the word) simply varies depending on the wide variation of British accents. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/32 "2018-04-03T10:18:11Z")
Looks better with a question mark. Twat? ---
**Author:** ![flip-68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@flip-68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flip-68)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/33 "2018-04-03T11:16:32Z")
if you are unsure about how to pronounce it, go for the far more colourful ‘twunt’ - a mix of 2 fabulously offensive words 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/34 "2018-04-03T11:21:11Z")
I usually think of it as two different words: “twot”, which is a vulgar slang for a woman’s genitalia and “twatt”, which is a mildly rude British insult. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/35 "2018-04-03T11:48:02Z")
From two experts on culture and good taste, [the definitive opinion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ONOQnV2pzw). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/36 "2018-04-03T12:52:41Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > So many people talking past each other. > > It rhymes with cat in the UK. > > The way many people in the UK pronounce “cat” [kat], it sounds more like the American “cot” [kɔt] than the American “cat” [kæt], even though it’s really a third vowel. I am not sure where you’re getting this. British “cat” is /kaet/, not /kat/. American “cot,” at least in my dialect where we don’t merge “caught” and “cot” is /kɒt/. /kɔt/ is “caught.” For more examples, listen to the UK speakers [here](https://forvo.com/word/cat/#en). ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/37 "2018-04-03T20:45:25Z")
I’m not sure I’ve ever said the word out loud. When I read it in my head I hear something in between awt/ot sound. I had a same-themed discussion yesterday at work about “pecan.” ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2018, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/38 "2018-04-04T05:01:34Z")
Previous post eaten. Twat rhymes with “cot”. Fighting words where I grew up in Norcal circa 1070’s. As in “your sister is a twat” could not possibly be left uncountered. One of Pat Conroy’s books, IIRC “The Prince of the Tides” has a pretty stereotypical scene where a fist fight is goaded on by those exact words “your sister is a twat”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2018, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/39 "2018-04-04T05:34:34Z")
[Here’s the Forvo page with 10 different speakers pronouncing “twat.”](https://forvo.com/word/twat/#en) The first link, UK, it’s /twaet/. Rhymes with “cat.” The second link, Spanish speaker, it’s something like “twot.” The third link, Australian, it’s “twaught” or something like /twɒ:t/, with a deep “aw” sound. Fourth link, American, it’s “twot.” Fifth link, UK, /twaet/ like “cat.” Sixth link, UK, /twaet/ like “cat,” although his /ae/ sounds slightly more open to my ears Seventh link, UK, also sounds like /twaet/ as in “cat” to me, but also slightly more open Eighth link, US, /twɑt/, rhymes with American “hot” Ninth link, Australia, sounds like the previous Australian to me, with an /ɒ/ or similar vowel like /ɔ/. Tenth link, UK, /twaet/ rhyming with “cat.” Looks like all the UK pronunciations are /ae/ to my ears, though some may be slightly shaded towards /a/. Australians look like they like something like /ɒ/ or /ɔ/ as the vowel there (“aw”) Americans look like they like to rhyme it with “hot” /ɑ/ ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637/40 "2018-04-04T18:46:49Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > If you’ve only ever heard it written and not spoken… 🙂 > [@flip-68](#): > > if you are unsure about how to pronounce it, go for the far more colourful ‘twunt’ - a mix of 2 fabulously offensive words 🙂 I’m hereby adding “twunt” to my vocabulary and am on the lookout for the 1st available opportunity to use it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twat/811637.md?page=3)