Twat
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Twat has various meanings, clearly dependent upon which regional dialect one is accustomed to.
It is generally used as a term to mean 'twit' or 'idiot'.
It is also a vulgar term for the human vulva,[1] which can be used as a derogatory epithet. In British English, "twat" is often pronounced /twæt/(to rhyme with bat). In other areas (eg. Australia and New Zealand) it is also pronounced /twɒt/ (to rhyme with what) and this was common in British English usage in the past.
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[edit] Historical usage
Robert Browning famously misused the term in his 1841 poem "Pippa Passes", believing it to be an item of nun's clothing:
- Then owls and bats
- Cowls and twats
- Monks and nuns in a cloister's moods
- Adjourn to the oak-stump pantry
Its meaning was in reality the same then as now, Browning's misconception probably having arisen from a line in a 1660 satirical poem, Vanity of Vanities:
- They talk't of his having a Cardinalls Hat
- They'd send him as soon an Old Nuns Twat
Another mistaken (or perhaps dialectal) use was in Lord Lytton's 1870 science fiction novel The Coming Race, in an apparent satire on Darwin:
- Among the pithy sayings which, according to tradition, the philosopher bequeathed to posterity in rhythmical form and sententious brevity, this is notably recorded: "Humble yourselves, my descendants; the father of your race was a 'twat' (tadpole): exalt yourselves, my descendants, for it was the same Divine Thought which created your father that develops itself in exalting you."
A more contemporary usage (but still early to appear in commercial print) was in Henry Miller's 1934 novel Tropic of Cancer. The novel, widely banned by censors, contains the line, "A man with something between his legs that could... make her grab that bushy twat of hers with both hands and rub it joyfully."
[edit] Cultural references
Although the term was not notable enough to be included in George Carlin's original seven dirty words, it was one of three words (the others being fart and turd) that later made his slightly expanded 10-word version. He also used it in a sports cheer during a standup routine.
- "Rat shit, bat shit, dirty old twat. Sixty-nine assholes tied in a knot. Hooray, lizard shit, fuck!"
[edit] Usage
Although it can also refer to the female genitalia, the word is used as a more general term in various ways:
- A fool, synonymous with the word twit - 'You are a real twat and a half'
- One who behaves in a childish, extroverted manner to the annoyance of others
- To hit something (or someone) really hard or violently - 'I twatted him one'
- To become drunk or otherwise intoxicated - 'Let's get twatted'
A common spelling alternative is "tw@."[citation needed] This was used in the video game Grand Theft Auto 3 and the video game Saints Row.
[edit] References
- Mark Liberman (2005-01-19). Twat v. Browning. Language Log. Retrieved on 2005-07-30.
