Twatt is a settlement in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. It is located on the Shetland Mainland on a minor road that leads from the A971 road to Clousta, north of Bixter. The settlement is within the parish of Sandsting.[1]
The settlement name originates from the Old Norse þveit, meaning 'small parcel of land'.[2] The Norse word commonly produces in England the place name element Thwaite.[3][4]
The name Twatt is similar to the common English expletive twat, a vulgar word for vulva 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, along with its Orkney namesake.
References
- ^ "Details of Twatt". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- ^ "thwaite". Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary. Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam. 1913. OCLC 800618302. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
- ^ Watts, Victor, ed. (2010). "Glossary". The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names. Cambridge University Press. p. xlviii. ISBN 978-0-521-16855-7.
- ^ Smith, A. H. (1962). The Place-names of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Vol. 7. Cambridge University Press. p. 284.
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