Taking the piss (was: teenager doing accents)

[Damien Hall]

To me (BrE, born mid-'70s), _take the piss_ doesn't necessarily have the
element of the victim not knowing he's been mocked. It's perfectly possible
to take the piss out of someone to their face (and equally behind their
back). In fact, the first time I encountered the phrase (I ran away soon
after) I was asked whether I was taking the piss by someone whose jump on
his bike I had applauded while standing by him with no other audience - so
clearly not behind his back, as there was no-one else to benefit from the
supposed piss-take. (I hadn't been, but thought it better not to argue the
point.)

There's also the intransitive usage 'That takes the piss!'. It's used when
something unfortunate has happened, particularly when the unfortunate thing
was the latest in a series of mishaps, or was foreseeable but not expected
(as, for example, when some particularly obstructive bureaucrat has put a
stop to a much-desired project on a tiny technicality). Examples:

'Losing to bolton and then Fulham now that takes the piss!!!'

http://www.onlinearsenal.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-9546.html

Explanation: Arsenal are a good team in the English (football, of course)
Premiership; Bolton and Fulham are mid-table teams. Losing to Bolton would
be considered unfortunate, but anyone can have a mishap or make a mistake
on a bad day; subsequently losing to Fulham is evidence of a sustained
series of mishaps that makes the poster suspect that Fate is against
Arsenal ('taking the piss out of them').

Page title: 'Free climbing at 1768ft'

Response: '[...] I like heights but that takes the piss.'

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=646927

Explanation: 'There's someone (Fate?) mocking me here' / 'That goes too
far', etc.


Google has ~34,500 hits for 'that takes the piss' with 'out of' excluded;
still, not all are relevant, as this also picks up hits where 'that' is a
relative pronoun ('It's good to read a paper that takes the piss a bit')
and hits with misspellings (of course).

Damien

--
Damien Hall

University of York
Department of Language and Linguistic Science
Heslington
YORK
YO10 5DD
UK

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