take the mickey

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take the mickey

Where it comes from

Possibly from Cockney rhyming slang “to take the Mickey Bliss” (for take the piss).

verb takes the mickey · taking the mickey · took the mickey · taken the mickey · mickey-take · take the Michael

Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, idiomatic, intransitive, slang To ridicule or mock someone; to make fun of someone. Are you takin’ the mickey? You’ll get yer ’ead bashed in.
Similar: take the piss, befool, chaff, disparage, forgab, frump, gleek, jape, jeer, jibe, josh, kid

Translations

Every language

verb to ridicule or mock

Español	cachondearse, tomar el pelo
Português	fazer pouco (de), gozar, zoar
Deutsch	sich lustig machen über, verarschen, durch den Kakao ziehen
Русский	насмеха́ться nasmexátʹsja, издева́ться izdevátʹsja, дразни́ть draznítʹ

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MLA

"take the mickey." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/take%20the%20mickey. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

take the mickey. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/take%20the%20mickey

Chicago

"take the mickey." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/take%20the%20mickey.

BibTeX

@misc{take_the_mickey_2026,
  title = {take the mickey},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/take%20the%20mickey},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}