That's not even a swear word in England.
And she pronounced it incorrectly.
share1) They're not in England.
2) http://lmgtfy.com/?q=accent
but it was referenced in the movie as a British swear word. Therefore our pronounciation stands.
sharebut it was referenced in the movie as a British swear word. Therefore our pronounciation stands.Its status as a swear word is completely unrelated to the pronunciation. Accents happen. S*** doesn't have a long I in it where I come from, but I don't go around grousing at people who pronounce it that way. share
Why would it stand? That's like saying, we say "glass" with our accent, so every other English speaking person should pronounce it with our accent. That's ridiculous. Some people say "ass" as "arse," and just because they say it like that doesn't mean everyone else should. If an American said "arse" it would be weird.
It's like being inside a dream or something.. There's truth, but no logic.
Saying twot is no worse then saying twit, it’s a completely different word from twat. If someone said ‘fick’ would they get punished for swearing, not likely at all.
Why do people so frequently get told to "read the book" on a movie database?
Saying twot is no worse then saying twit, it’s a completely different word from twat. If someone said ‘fick’ would they get punished for swearing, not likely at all.
Firstly, she didn't say "twot": she said "twat". It's just pronounced differently in the States. Heck, it's even pronounced differently in different part of the UK. If anyone disputes this, perhaps they'd care to tell me how they pronounce the word "swat".
As for the "fick" example: well, if you were to say "feck" in Ireland, you definitely would be punished.
As an aside: I was told by someone from the South of Scotland that one of his classmates from Ecclefechan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclefechan) got punished once because, when asked why he was late for school, he told the teacher that he'd "missed the Fechan bus." (For those who don't get it: the "ch" is pronounced as in the Scots "loch"...)
I probably shouldn't be, but I'm a little surprised that this discussion's still going on. The Shailene Woodley character in "The Descendants" uses the same word with the same pronunciation several times in that film, but I don't believe that's caused any fuss at all...
It's pronounced like Cat, as opposed to Lot.
Everywhere in the UK.
America pronounces Cat and Lot the same way we do, so I don't understand why Twat turns into Twot.
It's pronounced like Cat, as opposed to Lot.
Everywhere in the UK.
No it's not. Depending on geography and background, Brits pronounce it "twat", twot", or "twaht". "Twat" (rhymes with "cat") is the most common, but I've heard all three around the UK.
America pronounces Cat and Lot the same way we do, so I don't understand why Twat turns into Twot.
The same way that "leisure" gets pronounced as "leezhure", and so on. It's not just the Americans either, as it's something you'll often find in other English speaking countries, e.g. Australia.
So tell me: how do you pronounce "swat"?
It kind of is though. I live near London; you get alot of accents.
I understand the twaht, but everything shifts that way in the north.
I pronounce swat like swot. But noone pronounces swat as swat.
I pronounce swat like swot. But noone pronounces swat as swat.
Exactly: and yet you claim that "twat" is only ever rhymed with "cat" in the UK, and you "don't understand why Twat turns into Twot" in the US, even though I've given an example of a very similar word that contradicts the first example, but illustrates the second. There's quite a bit of an inconsistency there - but then that's the English Language for you.
I used to live on the South Coast, and I frequently passed through two places near each-other called Bosham and Cosham. There's only one letter difference in their names, but the first is pronounced "BOZ-um" and the second "COSH-um".
This link is really just a bit of fun, but it does give some idea of the diversity in pronunciation in both the UK and US:
http://www.forvo.com/word/twat/
Only the Australians show any real consistency. Listen particularly to mattyr from the UK (unfortunately they only give nationalities - there's no indication of what regions the speakers come from).
I mean to say that swat is consistantly pronounced at swot, everywhere.
But again, Bosham and Cosham are uniformly pronounced like that. The same way Gloucester is uniformly pronounced Gloster.
That, is a cool webside.
If you said Feck in Ireland you would not get into trouble. Thats the reason why the word exists in the first place. Because its a word that sounds like f*uck but that you can't get in trouble for saying.
Twat isn't offensive in the UK. If you said it to a stranger its offensive in the same way that calling a stranger an idiot would be offensive. Its not offensive in the same way that c*unt is. Even though it means the same thing but calling somebody a pussy in the US isn't as offensive as calling them a c*unt is it?
A lady walks into a cocktail bar and orders a Double Entendre.The barman gives her one
If you said Feck in Ireland you would not get into trouble. Thats the reason why the word exists in the first place. Because its a word that sounds like f*uck but that you can't get in trouble for saying.
Perhaps that wasn't the best example because of the "Father Ted" connection. However you'd be wrong to assume it wouldn't get you into trouble...
[Edit]
Ofcom link's giving me grief: this is probably a better one anyway:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/148466.stm
[/Edit]
Twat isn't offensive in the UK. If you said it to a stranger its offensive in the same way that calling a stranger an idiot would be offensive. Its not offensive in the same way that c*unt is.
Well, of course it isn't considered as offensive as the "C" word: nothing is. However again you'd be wrong to think "twat" isn't offensive at all. Not top 10, perhaps, but it's pretty high up. On the following list (which is used by the BBC and others), more than half those questioned considered it "very severe" or "fairly severe":
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/table/0,7493,409833,00.html
Part of the problem here - and I've seen it a few times on this board - is that some people assume that because they and their friends use a word all the time, it can't be offensive. However it's not as simple as that. I posted a study on this a while back, but basically what it comes down to is that how offensive someone finds a word varies depending on a number of factors such as age, geography, whether they have children (parents tend to be more concerned about swearing), etc. Also, women tend to be more offended by female-related words (slag, whore, twat, etc) than men.
If you said Feck in Ireland you would not get into trouble. Thats the reason why the word exists in the first place. Because its a word that sounds like f*uck but that you can't get in trouble for saying.
Perhaps that wasn't the best example because of the "Father Ted" connection. However you'd be wrong to assume it wouldn't get you into trouble...
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/itc/itc_publications/complaints _reports/programme_complaints/show_complaint.asp-prog_complaint_id=78. html
This link isn't working. What am I supposed to be seeing?
A lady walks into a cocktail bar and orders a Double Entendre.The barman gives her one
share
I haven't continued to read all the posts on this thread. as interesting as it is. I just wanted to say that my friends and I throw around the words twat, slag and the C word all the time. And I, as a girl don't find it offensive, nor do my friends. My super conservative friend has only called me a "cow" though. Which I found more offensive. It's just a part of our culture. I think men are more offended if a girl comes out with such words.
shareinteresting only slightly related point: apparently *beep* isnt offensive in australia, used as a colloquial term when greeting friends even e.g. "how are you, you *beep* but i guess it can be more or less offensive depending on how you say it
shareOnly the Australians show any real consistency.Thanks! It's pronounced "twot" all over the country...and no, she wouldn't have been sent to the principal, especially without the instigator. It was good to hear Mr Griffiths apologise for that later in the film. share
[deleted]
Absolutely cobblers, please be quiet, you're embarrassing yourself
'Well I've got two words for you - STFU'
It's pronounced like Cat, as opposed to Lot.
We would not pronounce it like that. That is like saying Pasta in America with a Nap sound which sounds ridiculous. If I said twat like that people would laugh at me.
It's jUsT LiKe cAbO
share
That's fair enough. It's just interesting how the shift is so selective.
shareIf an American said "arse" it would be weird.
Many American's say arse and I can't stand it.
It's jUsT LiKe cAbO
share
Many Americans say 'arse' or 'ass' interchangeably, depending on the company. For example, I might say 'ass' most of the time, but I probably wouldn't say it around my grandmother.
share[deleted]