# Phrase "Taking the mickey"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrase-taking-the-mickey/222010>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 31, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrase-taking-the-mickey/222010 "2003-12-31T21:40:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tom\_Eaton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Tom\_Eaton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Eaton)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrase-taking-the-mickey/222010/1 "2003-12-31T21:40:25Z")

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I’ve heard British people use this phrase many times. From the context it usually seems to mean either 1) imitating, or 2) making fun of, as in, “You’re wearing the exact same waistcoat as I am. Are you taking the mickey?” But a few times neither of these seemed to make sense.

What does the phrase mean, and where did it originate?

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrase-taking-the-mickey/222010/2 "2003-12-31T21:42:58Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Here’s what it says in “The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang” by Tony Thorne (Pantheon Books):
> 
> “take the mick/mickey/michael – vb. British – to mock, deride, poke fun at. These expressions are milder versions of ‘take the piss.’ Unbeknownst to most users, they employ rhyming slang: Mickey is short for a mythical ‘Mickey Bliss,’ providing the rhyme for ‘piss.’ ‘Michael’ is a humorous variant. The phrases, like their more vulgar counterpart, have been in use since the 1940s.”

From [here.](http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/6/messages/827.html)

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**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrase-taking-the-mickey/222010/3 "2003-12-31T23:35:49Z")

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Don’t believe him, he’s extracting the urine. 😛

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrase-taking-the-mickey/222010/4 "2004-01-01T00:58:02Z")

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MIchael Quinion, a fellow wordsmith, writes a great wordsite, with a British speciality, seeing as how he is.[http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-tak1.htm](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-tak1.htm)

He’s got it back to the 30’s.

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**Author:** ![OneYogini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9e5f3/32.png) [@OneYogini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneYogini)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrase-taking-the-mickey/222010/5 "2004-01-01T01:15:31Z")

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kferr - 51.3180N, 0.7300W:  
United Kingdom : England  
8.1 km (5.0 miles) E of Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England, UK  
Approx. altitude: 19 m (62 ft)

😉