take the piss

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take the piss

Where it comes from

Possibly from piss-proud (“falsely presenting as successful”). In which case taking the piss out of would mean deflating their false pride, usually through disparagement or mockery. As the piss-proud metaphor became dated, taking the piss out of someone came to refer to disparagement or mockery itself, regardless of the pride of the subject. Eventually the shortened, intransitive form taking the piss became common.

verb takes the piss · taking the piss · took the piss · taken the piss · piss-take · pisstake

Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, idiomatic, intransitive, slang To tease, ridicule or mock (someone). You know, cos he was like taking the piss out of them and they took the piss out of him.
Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, idiomatic, intransitive, slang To subject those present to teasing, ridicule or mockery, or to show contempt. He's either taking it easy or taking the piss by arriving at the eleventh hour.
Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, idiomatic, intransitive, slang To be outrageously unreasonable. I've got three exams on the same day! That's taking the piss!

Thesaurus

verb

Translations

Every language

verb to mock or ridicule (transitive)

Español	vacilar, tomar el pelo
Português	tirar sarro
Français	se foutre de la gueule
Deutsch	sich lustig machen über, verarschen
Italiano	prendere per il culo, prendere in giro
Română	bate pula, lua la pulă
Русский	подъёбывать podʺjóbyvatʹ

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{take_the_piss_2026,
  title = {take the piss},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/take%20the%20piss},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}