Andy was confused (and maybe a little indignant) about "taking the piss." Look, I lived with British people -- I can't help it sometimes.

Anyway, I asked an actual Brit her definition of taking the piss. Her take: [M]aking a joke at someone else's expense with the added element of taking advantage of them. I would add that I always thought that this was sort of with affection, as in, you're not being mean, you're just joking around. Either that, or every British person I know was actually treating me with contempt the entire time I lived in Hong Kong. Which is distinctly possible, of course -- the brits are sneaky that way.

Thanks for the authentic definition, Susan. Now when are you starting your blog?

Andy was also pretty peeved (I was about to say pissed) about he "Poor wee" comment. It does not, in any way, impugn upon your manhood. Really. It's a phrase I picked up from newton, who used to imitate our friend Melanie from Kansas. And Melanie pick it up from Mork and Mindy. The complete phrase is "Poor little Pooter." But Newton, apparently, is culturally incapable of saying "little," and has a Northern Irish accent to boot, so the phrase came out sounding like "Pur wee pooter."

Well, I thought it was funny.

The British and their Irish brethren seem to have a deep affection for the word "piss." Don't believe me? Here's an excerpt from a guide to British idiom:

piss-up: drinking session (as, "couldn't organize a piss-up in a brewery")
pissed: drunk
piss off: to go away (or as imperative, "piss off!"), (-ed off, -ing off) or to annoy/anger
take the piss: to make fun of
piss-take: parody or joke
pissing down: raining hard
piss-head: drunk (n.), alcoholic
piss artist: ditto
pissing oneself (laughing): laughing very hard
pissing in the wind: useless
piss easy: very easy
piece of piss: ditto
piss around: crap around, mess around, waste time

And that's from an American take on British idiom. A British take on it is even more extensive. (God bless the web.)

Someone should do some sort of ethnographic study on it.

When I was in Hong Kong, I used to indulge in he dreaded Drinking and Dialing: I'd go out on the piss, get pissed, come home and call my ex in Virginia and leave a semi-coherent message saying "I'm pissed, so I thought I'd call." Four days later he'd call back and say "Why were you angry?" and I'd have no idea what he was talking about. It took me months to figure out what was going on.