Twatt is a settlement in the

Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. 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 dem ...

on a minor road that leads from the A971 road to Clousta, north of

Bixter Bixter is a village on the west side of the Shetland Islands, located more than off the north coast of mainland Scotland. Bixter is a group of houses in a large reign of area. Council houses belonging to Hjaltland Housing Association & the She ...

. 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, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is 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 of Scandinavia and t ...

''þveit'', 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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

expletive "

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

," (a vulgar word for

vulva The vulva (plural: vulvas or vulvae; derived from Latin for wrapper or covering) consists of the external sex organ, female sex organs. The vulva includes the mons pubis (or mons veneris), labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, bulb of vestibu ...

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 P ...

'', along with its

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

namesake.

References

External links

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