take the mickey en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Possibly from Cockney rhyming slang “to take the Mickey Bliss” (for take the piss).
Meanings
-
(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, idiomatic, intransitive, slang) To ridicule or mock someone; to make fun of someone.
Are you takin’ the mickey? You’ll get yer ’ead bashed in.
For the last eight years, taking the mickey out of George Bush has been great, victimless fun. Like taking candy from babies or shooting aquatically-challenged fish in size-challenged barrels.
2008 November 15, Kenneth Nguyen, “Who's laughing now?”, in The Age newspaper:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| took the mickey | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| take the mick | alternative | lexicographic | |
| mickey-take | alternative | lexicographic | |
| take the micky | alternative | lexicographic | |
| takes the mickey | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| take the Michael | alternative | lexicographic | |
| taken the mickey | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| taking the mickey | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Synonyms
take the piss · make a fool of · twit · poke fun at · needle · scorn · josh · roast · gleek · make sport of · take the piss · razz · rib · satirize · forgab · make fun of · mock · tease · clown around · disparage · scoff · kid · mimic · niggle · frump · jibe · befool · jape · bust on · chaff · lampoon · extract the urine · slag · jeer
Translations (19)
hu ugrat (to ridicule or mock) · is grínast (to ridicule or mock) · pt fazer pouco (de) (to ridicule or mock) · hu szórakozik (to ridicule or mock) · is taka vindinn úr (to ridicule or mock) · cy herian (to ridicule or mock) · de verarschen (to ridicule or mock) · es cachondearse (to ridicule or mock) · is stríða (to ridicule or mock) · de durch den Kakao ziehen (to ridicule or mock) · ru издева́ться (to ridicule or mock) · ru дразни́ть (to ridicule or mock) · ru насмеха́ться (to ridicule or mock) · de sich lustig machen über (to ridicule or mock) · es tomar el pelo (to ridicule or mock) · hu húz (to ridicule or mock) · pt gozar (to ridicule or mock) · pt zoar (to ridicule or mock) · pl robić sobie jaja (to ridicule or mock)