Possibly frompiss-proud(“falsely presenting as successful”). In which casetaking the piss out of would mean deflating their false pride, usually through disparagement or mockery.[1] As thepiss-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 formtaking the piss became common.
takethepiss (third-person singular simple presenttakes the piss,present participletaking the piss,simple pasttook the piss,past participletaken the piss) (out of)
(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar, slang, idiomatic, transitive)
- Totease,ridicule ormock (someone)(without of).
1987, Judy Vermorel,Sex Pistols: the inside story[2], page16:You know, cos he was liketaking the piss out of them and theytook the piss out of him.
1999, Carole Zucker,In the company of actors: reflections on the craft of acting[3], page152:A lot of that stuff that peopletake the piss out of all the time is actually useful.
- To subject those present toteasing,ridicule ormockery, or to showcontempt.
2008, Will Swanton,Some Day: Inside the Dream Tour and Mick Fanning's 2007 Championship Win[4]:He's either taking it easy ortaking the piss by arriving at the eleventh hour.
- To beoutrageouslyunreasonable.
I've got three exams on the same day! That'staking the piss!
- As this phrase may be found offensive, it is often bowdlerised totake the pee or censored in print as “take the p***” or, less commonly, “take the p—”. A common jocular euphemism isextract the urine, a formal equivalent of the literal meaning of the words.
- Not to be confused withtake a piss.
to mock or ridicule (transitive)
