18 JULY 1992, Page 26

What's twat?

Sir: Charles Moore (Politics, 4 June) admits having reached the age of 35 with- out knowing the meaning of the word 'twat'. He is not the only man to have been so sheltered from the real world. One day Robert Browning came across a 17th-cen- tury couplet: They talk'd of his having a Cardinalls Hat, They'd send him as soon an Old Nuns Twat.

From this he concluded that 'twat' meant 'a nun's head-dress'. So, towards the end of Pi ppa Passes, we find the (unconsciously) hilarious lines:

Then, owls and bats, Cowls and twats, Monks and nuns, in a cloister's moods, Adjourn to the oak-stump pantry!

Christopher Howse

70 Godolphin Road, London W12