Twatt is a settlement in the

Shetland Islands Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the Uni ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is located on the Shetland

Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

on a minor road that leads from the A971 road to Clousta, north of Bixter. The settlement is within the parish of

Sandsting Sandsting is a parish in the West Mainland of Shetland, Scotland, forming a southern arm of the Walls Peninsula. After the parish of Aithsting was annexed into Sandsting in the sixteenth century, it became known as Sandsting and Aithsting pari ...

. The settlement name originates from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

, meaning 'small parcel of land'. The Norse word commonly produces in England the place name element '' Thwaite''. The name ''Twatt'' is similar to the common English

expletive Expletive may refer to: * Expletive (linguistics), a word or phrase that is not needed to express the basic meaning of the sentence * Expletive pronoun, a pronoun used as subject or other verb argument that is meaningless but syntactically required ...

twat ''Twat'' is an English-language vulgarism which means the vulva or vagina, and is used figuratively as a derogatory epithet. In British English, and Irish English it is a common insult referring to an obnoxious or stupid person regardless of ...

'', a vulgar word for

vulva In mammals, the vulva (: vulvas or vulvae) comprises mostly external, visible structures of the female sex organ, genitalia leading into the interior of the female reproductive tract. For humans, it includes the mons pubis, labia majora, lab ...

and also an insulting term meaning a weak or contemptible individual. For this reason, Twatt remains a source of amusement to people from outside the parish. Its name featured at no. 4 of the most vulgar sounding names in ''

Rude Britain ''Rude Britain'' (subtitled ''100 Rudest Place Names in Britain'') is a 2005 book of British place names with seemingly rude or offensive meanings. The book () is written by Rob Bailey and Ed Hurst, and published in the United Kingdom by the ...

'', along with its Orkney namesake.

References

External links

Canmore - Bridge of Twatt site recordCanmore - Twatt Farmstead site record
Villages in Mainland, Shetland {{Shetland-geo-stub