CzEcH rEcK
circle of duck
Registered: Jul 2000
Location: London
Posts: 3008 |
quote: Originally posted by Peter_Torque
As a 'Merican who hangs with Brit types, I think you should know that very few of my countrymen know what "taking the piss" is. No doubt we'll hear from a few immediately after this post who do indeed know what it means, and good on them (golfclap). But I'd venture to guess that 99% of the rest of humanity would have no clue as to what you are trying to convey.
Since we're on the subject, though; can't you assholes find a better phrase for "I am joking with you" than "I'm taking the piss?"
Granted, we have "pulling your leg, joshing, bustin' your balls, etc." but "taking the piss" doesn't even make sense grammatically. Who was the first one to use the phrase, and why? Was there someone talking to someone else sometime back in WWI and they saw a Jerry carting off some urine samples? Did they stop him with a cry of "yoo hoo!" and bayonet him, only to find from his last words that he was only there to steal superior British urine, having found German urine inferior both in taste and consistency?
What does it have to do with Ricky Martin T-shirts on gay Asian burglars?
"take the mick/mickey/michael -- vb. British -- to mock, deride, poke fun at. These expressions are milder versions of 'take the piss.' Unbeknownst to most users, they employ rhyming slang: Mickey is short for a mythical 'Mickey Bliss,' providing the rhyme for 'piss.' 'Michael' is a humorous variant. The phrases, like their more vulgar counterpart, have been in use since the 1940s."
"take the piss (out of someone) vb. British -- to mock, deride, poke fun (at). This vulgarism has been in widespread use since the late 1940s. The original idea evoked by the expression was that of deflating someone, recalling the description of a self-important blusterer as 'all piss and wind.'"
/me pokes PT mockingly.
__________________
True bravery is arriving home late after a night out on the beer, being
assaulted by your wife with a broom, and still having the guts to ask:
"So are you still cleaning, or are you flying somewhere?"
Report this post to a moderator |
IP: Logged
|