Take the biscuit

[Michael Quinion]

> Is "take the biscuit" the UK equivalent of the US "take the
> cake"?  Or (even though the author of the piece is
> London-based) is this the result of a translation by someone
> not familiar with the expression "to take the cake"?

We Brits do indeed say "take the biscuit" when we mean that
something is the most remarkable (or stupid) of its kind. It is
often, but not always, derogatory in tone.


--
Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
<editor at worldwidewords.org>
<http://www.worldwidewords.org/>