The T-word

justDan — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:18:59 +0000

Dragii mei, stiati de originea cuvantului?

When David Cameron used a word that is similar to “twit” in a radio interview, his press officer broke into a sweat. So why does this word offend people?

The recording studio at Absolute Radio erupted in giggles when Mr Cameron used the T-word on the breakfast show thus: “The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – too many twits might make a twat,” he said.

If he really is that innocent, unaware that the word refers to female genitalia, then Mr Cameron is in illustrious company.

Robert Browning, in his poetic play Pippa Passes in 1841, uses the word erroneously, thinking it to be an article 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

It is thought Browning took his (mis)cue from a 17th Century poem, Vanity of the Vanities, that made the same mistake.

The first documented evidence of the word was in 1656 and it appeared in Bailey’s dictionary in 1727, although it was not spoken in the refined social circles that Browning would inhabit 100 years later.

“Browning, in his innocence, didn’t know what it meant,” says a spokeswoman for the Oxford English Dictionary. “It was pretty unspeakable in the 19th Century.

“A lot of very rude vocabulary tends to not get into print, so it’s difficult to get really early evidence. The F-word is a nightmare, although it goes back to the Middle England period.”

Double meaning

There’s nothing rare about the T-word in print nowadays, with authors like Germaine Greer, Norman Mailer and Henry Miller having used it in famous works.

It has a second meaning, which is probably what Mr Cameron had in mind – as a term of abuse for a person regarded as stupid or obnoxious. The first known use of it in this sense was in the 1920’s.

Duncan Black, editor of the Collins English Dictionary says: “Despite its potential to cause offence, the misuse of this word is a common mistake.

“It is often used innocently as a substitute for – or perceived as a slightly racier alternative to – twit or prat, both of which are considered very mild forms of insult. It is likely that the confusion occurs simply because the words sound so similar.”

The literal meaning, as a description of female anatomy, is very rarely used, says slang expert Tony Thorne, of King’s College London.

“Maybe people over 50, for them that is the main sense of the word, but for everyone else it means ‘total idiot’ – but it’s still offensive, it’s a fight-starting word.

“If you call someone it to their face, unless they are a close friend and you are teasing them, it’s a fairly offensive word – although not on the same level as the C-word or the F-word.

“It looks like ‘twit’. People who aren’t on the street and don’t use street language are maybe not aware of how strong it is.”

For everyone else it means ‘total idiot’ – but it’s still offensive, it’s a fight-starting word

Tony Thorne

Although in some minds it is associated with “twit”, that single vowel change from “i” to “a” can make all the difference.

Twit makes it into Mr Thorne’s book, 100 Words That Make Us English, because it’s a “homely and comfortable” insult that is quintessentially English, he says.

The other (twat) does not.”

Asadar, mai dam si noi un “twit”?

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