151:. Because the city collected urine from public facilities and exported a refined version of it, it was often used as ship's ballast in place of water - having a resale value at the other end of the journey. Consequently, sailors discussing their cargo in local establishments would genially accuse others reputed to be lying about their cargo of "taking the piss", or hauling urine.
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which happen when a man awakens at the end of a dream cycle (each about 90 minutes in length throughout the night) or may be caused by a full bladder pressing upon nerves that help effect an erection. This could be considered a "false" erection, as its origin is physiological, not psychosexual, so in
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In colloquial usage, "taking the piss" is also used to refer to someone or something that makes a claim which is not in line with a recognised agreement, e.g. an invoice that is double the quoted price with no explanation for the added charge could be said to "take the piss", or likewise if something
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and one guest clearly takes more than his expected share. It can also relate to an abuse of trust, such as "You can use my phone, but don't take the piss!", i.e., do not abuse my offer of assistance by making lengthy calls that will cost me a lot of money. Equally, a wilfully unproductive employee
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is a colloquial term meaning to mock at the expense of others, or to be joking, without the element of offence. It is also sometimes phrased as a question, 'are they taking the piss?', when referring to an individual who takes above and beyond what is thought acceptable, similar to the expression,
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The term sometimes refers to a form of mockery in which the mocker exaggerates the other person's characteristics; pretending to take on his or her attitudes, etc., for the purpose of comedic effect at the expense of another. This would be described as "taking the piss" out of that person, or "a
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refers to deflating this false pride, through disparagement or mockery. As knowledge of the expression's metaphoric origin became lost on users, "taking the piss out of" came to be synonymous with disparagement or mockery itself, with less regard to the pride of the subject.
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could be described as "taking the piss" for accepting a wage while knowingly failing to deliver on their obligation, or an employer could be accused of "taking the piss" for making unreasonable requests of their employees, e.g., expecting them to do unpaid overtime.
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The phrase is in common usage throughout
British society and to a lesser extent in Irish society, employed by headline writers in broadsheet gazettes and tabloids as well as colloquially. It is also used in English-speaking countries such as Australia.
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piss-take". It may also be used to refer to a ruse whereby a person is led to believe a plainly unbelievable fact for the purpose of ridicule of the subject, e.g. "Are you being serious?" "No, I'm just taking the piss."
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162:," in which case "take the micturition" would be a synonymous euphemism for "take the piss." The phrase has been noted since the 1930s.
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also lays claim to the phrase's origin, citing the urine trade which was seen as an undesirable cargo for sailors working from the
158:"take the Mickey Bliss", a euphemism for "take the piss." It has also been suggested that "mickey" is a contraction of "
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a metaphoric sense, then, someone who is "piss-proud" would suffer from false pride, and
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are additional terms for making fun of someone. These terms are most often used in the
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The term can also mean to take unfair advantage; for example, if someone has a food
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34:'give them an inch and they take a mile.' It is a shortening of the idiom
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46:, tease, joke, ridicule, or scoff. It is not to be confused with "taking
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262:"To mitigate Gibbs outburst is simply taking the Mickey"
283:"The Origins and Common Usage of British Swear Words"
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Heavy Words
Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme
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331:"Taking the Piss - The Geordie Directory"
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181:Wiktionary Definition
156:Cockney rhyming slang
145:North East of England
244:"Taking the Mickey"
195:. Thorndike Press.
304:Quinion, Michael.
285:. BBC. 20 May 2002
71:taking the Michael
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358:"Take the Mickey"
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341:27 August
315:7 January
289:7 January
91:Australia
52:urinating
23:Urophagia
224:. London
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122:Origin
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