to think that twat is a bad word?

[Klaw]

I recently heard a grandmother call a wee boy a twat. I thought it was more than just slang, but wonder now as someone else thinks it's harmless slang.

Am I being over-sensitive? Even if I am, I am still pretty that a woman should call her 3yr old grandson that.

I think it's a very good word. It has a nicely percussive sound and the T at the end gives a nice completeness. But of course I would never use it. Oh no no... I prefer ARSE!

So would you allow your children to say the words Twat or Arse?

No, I would pull them up on it. DS2 did actually say arse last week

I wouldn't worry about arse. Twat I would object to because I know that others would.

On a similiar vain my dsil was was sooo shocked when I told my ds he was a plonker

I had only ever heard it on only fools and horses and didnt think there was anything wrong with it

DS calls himself a pain in the arse

When I was at school I was also told a twat was a goldfish. I proudly put it on the scrabble board whilst playing a game with my parents and was very when they explained that was not what it meant. Still cringe about that now...

I've heard a few people refer to children as being twats recently. Makes me furious.

If people continue to do this it will lose its value completely and I'll have to start calling twats see you next tuesdays, when we all know that a twat is an adult that has really peed you off and a see you next tuesday is an adult that's really, really peed you off and has done so maliciously.

What is the world coming to?

I should point out that it was a pupil that told me a goldfish was a twat and not a teacher.

Also do not think twat is harmless slang - cannot imagine a gradmother calling a child that.

I think it has different meanings depending of where you are from. I am from London and to everyone i know it just means idiot or plonker, whereas i know friends from yorkshire say it means similar to c*.

Actually in Edinburgh 'you cunt' means 'hail fellow well met', as unfortunately many of my fellow citizens use the C word to mean 'person'.

I love the word twat

Me too, random. Which is why I object to it being dumbed down.

'twit' is just a polite way of saying 'twat'.

And calling someone a 'berk' is calling them much the same, as it's rhyming slang. Berkshire Hunt...

Lol@MorrisZapp - so true. When I was working in an Edinburgh bar I could not help but overhear a conversation between two gentlemen, about a third, in which said chap was referred to as a "right guid cunt". A "right bad cunt" is a truely scarey entity.

lol OtterInaskoda ..means a bit more then twit in my book ...

Like other Scots on this thread, my exprience is that "twat" is just a slightly stronger version of "twit" and wouldn't think tiwce if I heard it, although it is not an expression that I would often use.

It does bring back me memories of the time I was an "assistante" in France and giving a lesson on slang, where I was asked for the translation of the mild French expression "con" (as in "espece de con" = "an idiot/idiotic)

Thank you all for your opinions etc. I am in Scotland but shall continue to be offended by it's use, particularly by the granny, who someone else heard telling her grandson that his mum is a twat because she did something silly. So it wasn't a one off then.

But that's maybe more because I make a point of not calling people names, especially kids. Eg rather than call someone stupid, I might say that they did something silly.

Not that I am holier than thou, I can swear like a banshee when provoked! I just try not to, that's all

random - twat means somewhat more than twit in my book, too. I'm just worried that if nans are using it to describe their gcs, there'll be no swear words left. And then what will I call my (ex) boss behind his back?

We use it as a word for hitting someone round these parts - "I twatted 'im right in the gob" or if someone fell over "'Ee twatted right over on his face"

I saw someone wearing a t-shirt with "TW@" on - it suited her.

xxx

No,YANBU it's horrible, but not as bad as the 'C' word. I think of it as genital-related though so definitely not like 'twit'.

I hate swearing in general though, I am usually shocked at the amount of 'F' and 'C' words I hear chucked into everyday conversations when out & about.

But maybe that's because my dad was very strict abot swearing when we were growing up, there was not so much as a 'bloody' in our house. I was shaken to the core when I was about 10 & heard my dad say 'bloody' at a family do

Walked my three kids past a bloke standing outside the supermarket talking loudly to himself about...well, it was rated XXX and was as sweary as you can possibly imagine. I was absolutely disgusted, especially as my 12 year olds heard it (DD3 was too involved with her teddy to notice, thank goodness).

Sorry, just had to share, as i was flabberghasted. Thank goodness the twins chose not to discuss what he was saying!

By raffyandted on Sat 22-Aug-09 14:12:35
I was shaken to the core when I was about 10 & heard my dad say 'bloody' at a family do

I was nearly an adult when I first heard my mum say Fuck. I was shaken to the core too!!!

Sadly my children have heard me swear........

Great word but not around children.

I use twat in certain circs like road rage, when there are no kids about...I always go by the Granny Test.... if my Granny would clip my ear for it then it's not good , and I definately would not want DS to start saying it. Probably not considered as bad as the C word but definately bad.