# Was this phrase used in 1880s London?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-phrase-used-in-1880s-london/88725
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 21, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-phrase-used-in-1880s-london/88725 "2001-10-21T19:43:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-phrase-used-in-1880s-london/88725/1 "2001-10-21T19:43:02Z")

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This weekend, I went to see _From Hell_ with two friends. Discussing it afterward, one of them said she didn’t think the phrase “piss off” (as in go away, not as in to make angry) would have been used in 1880s England. I speculated that it would have been. Was it?

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### Author: ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-phrase-used-in-1880s-london/88725/2 "2001-10-21T20:23:45Z")

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It’s hard to tell. The OED can’t find an instance of “piss off” in print with the meaning “go away” before 1958. Interestingly, “piss” didn’t use to be a vulgar term. It entered English from French about 1250. Until some point (about 1750, I’d guess from the citations given in the OED) it wasn’t considered at all obscene.

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### Author: ![geepee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@geepee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geepee)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-phrase-used-in-1880s-london/88725/3 "2001-10-21T20:26:18Z")

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heh its still used over here , but piss has been replaced largely with fuck

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### Author: ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-phrase-used-in-1880s-london/88725/4 "2001-10-21T21:42:02Z")

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Eric Partridge, in **The Penguin Dictionary of Historical Slang** , says:

> [@](#):
>
> **piss off.** To depart, esp. to depart quickly: low: late C.19-20.

But note:

> [@](#):
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> **piss money against the wall.** To squander, waste money, esp. in liquor: **late C.15-19** : S.E. until C.18, then (low) coll.