take the mickey
to make fun of someone
TRANSLATION
to take the mickey out of sb. = sich über jdn. lustig machen; jdn. veräppeln; jdn. auf die Schippe nehmen; jdn. auf den Arm nehmen; jdn. verarschen
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Taking the Mickey out of media Americanisation.
BBC News's media correspondent, Torin Douglas,... sketches a media landscape in which our national newspapers are already dominated by overseas proprietors, the 40% of homes with multi-channel television are knee-deep in American companies, Channel 4 relies for its ratings and reputation on US shows, and IPC magazines have been bought by AOL Time Warner.
(Marketing Week - 16 May 2002)
BBC News's media correspondent, Torin Douglas,... sketches a media landscape in which our national newspapers are already dominated by overseas proprietors, the 40% of homes with multi-channel television are knee-deep in American companies, Channel 4 relies for its ratings and reputation on US shows, and IPC magazines have been bought by AOL Time Warner.
(Marketing Week - 16 May 2002)
Did you
know?
to take the mickey
(British slang)
- to tease, to make fun of someone
Origin
There are various forms of this phrase: take the Mick/Micky/Mickey, although the 'take the Mickey' version is most often used in print.
Take the mickey is an example of cockney rhyming slang. Here's the logic:
'Taking the piss' (sich über jdn. lustig machen) rhymes with a character called Micky Bliss. So taking the Micky (Bliss), is a polite way of implying that you are taking the piss.
Taking the piss is reported as originating in the UK in the 1930s and 'taking the Mickey' probably came not long afterwards. The first form of the phrase in print comes from 1952.
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"One has to be very careful with racial jokes these days, it's fairly safe though to take the Mickey out of your own nationality"
(British slang)
- to tease, to make fun of someone
Origin
There are various forms of this phrase: take the Mick/Micky/Mickey, although the 'take the Mickey' version is most often used in print.
Take the mickey is an example of cockney rhyming slang. Here's the logic:
'Taking the piss' (sich über jdn. lustig machen) rhymes with a character called Micky Bliss. So taking the Micky (Bliss), is a polite way of implying that you are taking the piss.
Taking the piss is reported as originating in the UK in the 1930s and 'taking the Mickey' probably came not long afterwards. The first form of the phrase in print comes from 1952.
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"One has to be very careful with racial jokes these days, it's fairly safe though to take the Mickey out of your own nationality"
