So I watched Gone Girl last night with Jo, beer, dogs and curry.

It's a good film. You should watch it. There are no spoilers in this post.

There's a bit where someone refers to someone else as a "twat" (to rhyme with "plot"), and the insult is clearly gendered.

Now, over here, "twat" rhymes with "hat" and is used sometimes to refer to a lady's groinal garden, but more usually as a non-gendered more vitriolic version of "arsehole".

And then later on, there is an exchange where the word "cunt" is used in an unequivocally gendered way.

"Cunt" is a versatile word. The one thing it's rarely used for (in the UK) is to specifically refer to a lady's badly-packed kebab.

Especially in Scotland, where the following are all correct:

"Bill, you old cunt, it's been ages, how the fuck are you?" (Expression of affection for an old friend)
"Look at that stupid cunt!" (referring to a chap doing something stupid)
"I felt like such a cunt." (I made a fool of myself)
"Oh, that poor cunt." (Expression of sympathy for a third party)
"What. A. Cunt." (Nigel Farage/Donald Trump)
"Yes, I am a bit fragile this morning. After all, I got completely cunted last night." (I have a hangover)
"It's a very warm day; my cunt is a bit sweaty" (Fooled you! Women (even Scottish women) almost never say this)

So when I hear "cunt" in an American film, I probably don't have the reaction the scriptwriter intended. Is it really a word directed specifically at women in the US?

What's the deal with "twat"?

(Things that always make me smile: Americans using the words "wanker" and "bollocks")