What is this?
A weekly award for public figures who, given a microphone, chose violence against the English language.
The word
twat (n., British, informal): a pompous fool. As in, “the man in the turtleneck explaining that two things are three things.” It’s a gentle-ish British insult for someone who has been very silly in public, usually on purpose and usually with a lanyard on.
How it works
- One a weekEach week we pick one public figure and one thing they said.
- Real quotes onlyEvery quote is reproduced word for word and linked to its source. We don’t make them up and we don’t need to.
- The Twat-o-MeterA rigorous scale from 1 (slightly pompous) to 10 (peak twat). It is not peer-reviewed.
- In fairnessIf there’s a sensible point buried in the waffle, we’ll say so. Then we’ll keep laughing.
House rules
We mock what people say, not who they are. No slurs, nothing about anyone’s looks, race, religion, gender, sexuality, health or family. Public figures speaking on the record only. Portraits are illustrated silhouettes or freely licensed photos, credited to the photographer with the licence alongside.
Got it wrong?
If we’ve misquoted someone or a source has changed, we want to know and we’ll fix it. Email imatwat@thetwatspot.com with the page and the source, and we’ll put it right.