Poll: How do you say twat?

[Not-here-anymore]

Well these dictionaries support it rhyming with hot

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Twat
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/twat
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/twat

OK, this brings up another question... How do you pronounce hot? Because with the exception of the supposedly english pronunciation in the second link (no-one in the UK says it like that), it all sounds like twat, to rhyme with hat.

 

[tahrey]

Like "Hat".

T-w-at.

How does that even end up with an "ot" sound at the end?
Can you find me some media (and not just a youtube of you and some friends recorded and uploaded after me asking) with people pronouncing this word that way? I can't think of a single example.

"At" is also a harsher sound which matches better with its usual use as a swearword or insult.

PS As a Brit, and feeling reasonably sure in my conviction that the word arose from these shores, I wouldn't trust Merriam-Webster's word on it. What does the OED say on this?

Also do make sure you're not misreading the IPA symbols, sometimes they use an english letter to represent a somewhat unintuitive sound.

(And finally, there are some WIERD accents knocking about - I wouldn't be too surprised to find somewhere that mixes up the pronunciation of Hat and Hot...)

 

[Cavehybrid]

The thing is american is hot english is hat. don't know why you guys say hot, but we say hat.

 

[MurderousToaster]

I don't quite understand - why would I say "twot" if it's spelled "twat"?

Oh, I presume that's the American pronunciation of "hot" where it sounds a bit like "haht"?

 

[SckizoBoy]

How do you pronounce knife? nife or knife?
neighbour is of course pronounced neghbor right?

Words with foreign language etemology don't always follow standard english rules.

*meh* That's fair enough, but there's even pronunciation conflict with other words, purely because of the number of ways in which vowels can be vocalised e.g. tomato ('ah' or 'ei').

This is why I like German... few (if any) exceptions in pronunciation.

 

[spaceman_jan]

You must say it with a great big false British accent the kind that makes your friends think why is he making such a fool of himself i hope i dont do that but sure enough they join in and say it at every chance

 

[kickassfrog]

It's spelled phonetically, you stupid twot

 

[Big Bruce]

Like "Hat".

T-w-at.

How does that even end up with an "ot" sound at the end?
Can you find me some media (and not just a youtube of you and some friends recorded and uploaded after me asking) with people pronouncing this word that way? I can't think of a single example.

"At" is also a harsher sound which matches better with its usual use as a swearword or insult.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Twat
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/twat
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/twat

It's more like saying "twaht"

 

[Renegade-pizza]

Just watch Zero Punctuation! He uses the word whenever he can't come up with a crude, yet funny, analogy.

 

[WhiteRat07]

When i lived in Ohio it was "twat"
I live in Texas now and it is "twot"
I always assumed it was a southern U.S. thing to say twot.

 

[Palademon]

Like the "hat" sound. Never heard it any different.

 

[Strain42]

I think we've already established that pronunciation is based on a more regional setting and neither is really wrong.

My answer is that I don't say the word, it can be a rather hurtful term and I have no need to call anybody that

But seriously, to all you people going "Um, it's got "at" in it so clearly it's Hat. Are you all idiots?" Shutup. As someone already pointed out, how do you say the word swat? Vowels have have more than one sound, it varies from word to word.

If you pronounce it to rhyme with Hat, that's fine. But don't act like everyone who doesn't is an idiot who doesn't grasp the language.

 

[tahrey]

This is why I like German... few (if any) exceptions in pronunciation.

Doesn't make it any easier for learners when so many of the letters and dipthongs are just straight up pronounced differently anyway, though.

Least obvious... Euro = Oi-ro. Really? And Auto = Ow-to of course.

 

[DanielBrown]

Like it's spelled, so "hat-twat" is my answer.

 

[KaiRai]

Even the most British of upper class British don't say Twot....

 

[floppylobster]

It started out as 'Twat' then shifted to 'Twhat'. But now it's shifted back and is more commonly pronounced 'Twat' these days (in part thanks to Gordon Ramsey being accepted into US culture through Hell's Kitchen and other programmes). I still use Twot (Twhat) though, if at all. Twat doesn't have the same effect with my country's vowel accents.

 

[Samwise137]

My buddy always sounded stupid when he made it sound like hot so I always make it rhyme with hat.

 

[Kneel]

"It's pronounced Thwaite!!!"

Hah, Hotel Paradiso, right?

Also relevant:

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Like the dictionary says, with an "ah" sound, rhymes with hot.

The "Ah" in hot?

Am I just missing something completely here?

Well these dictionaries support it rhyming with hot

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Twat
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/twat
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/twat

All American dictionaries.

http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com/dictionary/twat

Shows clearly it's 'at'.

 

[TheSaw]

I say it like tee-wat.
And now I've said it to myself a few times, it doesn't sound like a word anymore.