Is this still a swear word?

[GettinTrimmer]

I see it all the time on mumsnet - 'twat' or being 'twatty.' Does everybody agree its meaning is being used as just 'idiot' or 'pillock?'

Nah, it's a bit stronger than that.

Acid test: would you be offended / shocked if a 3 year old said it?

I would.

A 14 year old, fine. But anyone under 10 saying it would make me .

Definitely a swear word I would say. Although not sure it is a pedantry distinction.

It's a bit less strong than the c word.

1 an extremely offensive word for a stupid person
2 an extremely offensive word for a woman?s vagina (=sex organ)
Macmillan dictionary

I don't like it.

I also posted about this word as I work as a lunchtime supervisor at my dc's school: an 8 year old said 'you twat' to another child, I had words with him and reported it to his teacher, but later looked it up in the Cambridge online dictionary and saw it means the same as the c-word. I think his parents use it to generally means stupid idiot, or I would hope so anyway if he's in earshot

I'm originally from North Somerset and it's always meant idiot/Twit. It wasn't until I moved North that I even knew it could also be interpreted as an equivalent of the word cunt.

still a swearword.

MN is a very sweary place.

you see Fuck all the time on here, too - doesn't mean it's now okay to use.

and yes, some parents will use many or all or some swearwords in front of kids.
I have heard several under-5s being subjected to Fuck/ing in the street around here, so....

As MissFenella suggested it can vary according to region. Here in the Midlands many people used to use it as a slightly ruder alternative to "twit".
However I think it is becoming less acceptable, or maybe this is my perception.
"Crap" is similar iyswim. Some people see it as a mild alternative to the word "poo" other people think it is worse than "shit"

There was a fair bit of media coverage (and MN discussion) over this when Jacqueline Wilson used the word. IIRC it's largely a geographic thing -- in some areas it's a very mild swear word, not much worse than "twit", while in others it's quite strong and certainly not the sort of thing you'd say in front of children.

I'd never heard of it being an alternative to cunt until today. For everyone I know, it means idiot.