Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a scolding, a telling-off.

1866		J. Greenwood Little Ragamuffin 219: I’d give him a pound [...] to find ’em and give ’em a twistin’.
1900		Sporting Times 10 Feb. 1/1: The buildings alone cost £180,000 and the contractors got a rare twisting at that.

2. a cause of anxiety or unhappiness.

1941

Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl.