taking the piss
What does “taking the piss” mean in English?
It means to mock someone or behave in a silly or unreasonable way. It's often used when someone is being ridiculous or not taking things seriously.
You'll hear it mainly in British and Commonwealth contexts, similar to saying someone is 'taking the mick' or 'messing about'. It's informal and can be lighthearted or more biting, depending on the tone.
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Related English words
ape shit
3/5 · VulgarIt means to become extremely angry or overly excited, often in a chaotic or uncontrolled way.
bullshit
3/5 · VulgarIt refers to nonsense or dishonesty, often used to challenge a false claim. While it literally means 'bull excrement,' it rarely pertains to actual animal waste.
dogshit
3/5 · VulgarThis refers to something of extremely poor quality or rubbish. It can also literally mean dog excrement.
full of shit
3/5 · VulgarThis means someone is being dishonest or talking nonsense. It's a straightforward way to call out bullshit.
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About this data
Swear Atlas is a source-attested, AI-curated reference — not a native-speaker-certified dictionary. Meanings and the 1–5 Burn Rating are approximate editorial assessments that vary with context, region, tone and speaker. Inclusion of a word does not constitute endorsement of its use.
“Sounds like” is an English-friendly approximation of how the word sounds, not an authoritative pronunciation. Where shown, the romanisation is a conventional Latin-script transliteration of the original spelling.
Term attested via 4troDev/profanity.csv (MIT). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.