NSFW Do the sounds that form a swearword have an impact on its severity, despite its meaning? (see details).
For example, Cunt and Twat both refer to ladies’ genitalia. Cunt, however, starts with a hard C and ends abruptly with a sharp T. It’s almost impossible to elongate the word or soften the sounds within it. Twat has a softer Twuh sound at the beginning, the A can be elongated, and it’s less likely that the final T would be enunciated as sharply as in Cunt. (The tongue movement is subtly different for a T after a vowel compared to after the letter N.)
I know many people in my corner of the country who use Twat affectionately amongst friends, and whilst it still isn’t a word I would use in front of parents, I would certainly never ever call a friend a Cunt and expect them to take it as a term of endearment.
Is it possible that the reason Cunt is such an offensive term to so many is that, from an aural point of view, it is the extreme opposite from cellar door?
Feel free to offer up other words for comparison, and yes, I understand that Twat may not be a term you like either, but do you dislike it as much as Cunt?
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