Twatt is a small settlement on the Mainland of the Orkney Islands

Orkney Islands

Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It was previously the location of a RNAS airfield, HMS Tern, 1940–1949.

Etymology

The settlement name originates from the Old Norse 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 language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 expletive

Profanity

Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...

 "twat

Twat

The word twat has various functions. It is a vulgar synonym for the human vulva, but is more widely used as a derogatory epithet, especially in British English...

", (an insulting word used by someone to express contempt or derision for another individual, although it can also colloquially refer to a vagina

Vagina

The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...

). For this reason, Twatt is viewed as something of a joke by the rest of the world -- being used, for example, to designate the character intended to be the butt of recurring jokes in a major British motion picture

The Boat That Rocked

The Boat That Rocked is a 2009 British comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis, with pirate radio in the United Kingdom during the 1960s as its setting. The film has an ensemble cast featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, and Kenneth Branagh...

. Its name featured at no. 4 of the most vulgar sounding names in Rude Britain

Rude Britain

Rude Britain is a 2005 book of British place names with seemingly rude or offensive meanings...

, along with its Shetland

Twatt, Shetland

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....

counterpart.