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Comment by jjgreen | Hacker News Reader

Aside, but I was surprised to see the (well justified) phrase "pissed off" in a US article, I thought that was a Britishism?

[edit] thanks all: TIL ...

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"Pissed off" is a pretty common phrase in US English to mean being angry. We tend to not use the other varieties of "pissed" that British and other English speakers would use though. Some examples would be "being pissed" (being drunk) or "taking the piss" (mocking someone).

"Take a piss" and sayings where "Piss" is used as a noun is the Britishism - "Pissed off" seems universal in the English-language world ime

Doesn't that mean a different thing in the UK?

UK: "The line was too long so they pissed off to the pub"

US: "They were pissed off because an aggressive driver cut them off"

No, it means the same thing in both countries. That UK usage is possibly used by some people but I don't ever recall hearing it in my 30 years there.

what about "kiss my piss"? is that less common? :)

I have never heard that in either country!

In the UK you'd say "queue" instead of "line", if I'm interpreting the context correctly.

UK: They were pissed off that the queue was too long, decided to go out on the piss instead so pissed off to the pub to get pissed.

No, that's common in the US. "Taking a piss" as an idiom that means ranting at someone? is not common. If we take a piss, it's just urination.

Brits use “taking _the_ piss”. But they also use “pissed” to mean drunk.

Yeah, that's how uncommon it is; I don't even know the right form. Pissed to mean drunk is like depends on your friend group? There's people who might say "i got pissed last night" and I'd be like what were you mad about? But other people I'd accept it as an indication of drinking...

Here in the US "taking a piss" means to urinate.

Example:

"Where's Bob?"

"He's in the bathroom, taking a piss"

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