Is the 'T' word offensive?

I read on the BBC news page last week that David Cameron has been reprimanded for using offensive language during a radio broadcast. Fair enough, I thought. Standards are slipping and all that. Reading on, I felt myself blushing!

In a discussion about social networking, David Cameron said, “the trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it, is that too many twits might make a twat”.

The offensive word was “twat”. Now, I wasn’t offended by that. But reading on, I was horrified to find that to many people, this is a really rude word. It appears that David Cameron (and me) was unaware of that.

Despite its potential to cause offence, the misuse of this word is a common mistake. Duncan Black, editor of the Collins English Dictionary says: “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 appears that the literal meaning is a description of female anatomy, possibly akin to the word C**t !!

I was shocked as it is a word I have taken to more recently and used quite liberally!
At this point, I would like to point out that whenever I have used the ‘T’ word, I have only ever believed it to be a description of someone who is a bit of an idiot, and have not meant to cause any serious offence to anyone.

This article invited readers comments*, and it appears that it is usually the older generation that will be offended by this (not me!), and that there also appears to be somewhat of a North/South divide on this subject.

One reader commented: “it’s often considered a fairly standard, inoffensive term in the South of England (like a ‘twit’), however in the North, especially the North East, it’s considered to be much more offensive (more like the ‘c-word’).

Aaah! So although I have had an innocent Southern understanding of the word, I have been using it amongst my Northern colleagues, neighbours, friends and possibly strangers, who are all probably very offended by my use of the language. A quick straw pole in my own household from James and Lydia, did confirm my worst fears that they both knew it to be a seriously offensive word, but thought I was just being rude, and although they did admit that they did suspect I didn’t fully understand the meaning of the word, they decided not to mention it to me!!! Thanks, guys!

So apologies, apologies, apologies, to anyone I have offended with the use of this naughty word. I really didn’t know what I was saying. (However, if I used a different word which caused offence, I probably did mean to use it!)

*Interestingly, one reader pointed out that there was an episode of Fawlty Towers, where the hotel’s signpost had an anogram of the name which read ‘Flowery Twats’ ! Using the Southern meaning, I guess? – Ha Ha