<P> The term sometimes refers to a form of mockery in which the mocker exaggerates the other person's characteristics; pretending to take on his or her attitudes, etc., for the purpose of comedic effect at the expense of another . This would be described as "taking the piss" out of that person, or "a piss - take". It may be also be used to refer to a ruse whereby a person is led to believe a plainly unbelievable fact for the purpose of ridicule of the subject, e.g. "Are you being serious?" "No, I'm just taking the piss ." </P> <P> The phrase is in common usage throughout British society, employed by headline writers in broadsheet gazettes and tabloids as well as colloquially . It is also used in English speaking countries such as Australia . </P> <P> In colloquial usage, "taking the piss" is also used to refer to someone or something that makes a claim which is not in line with a recognised agreement e.g. an invoice that is double the quoted price with no explanation for the added charge could be said to "take the piss", or likewise if something consistently misses a deadline . </P> <P> The term can also mean to take unfair advantage . For example, if someone has a food buffet and one guest clearly takes more than their expected share . It can also relate to an abuse of trust, such as "You can use my' phone, but don't take the piss!", i.e. do not abuse my offer of assistance by making lengthy calls that will cost me a lot of money . Equally, a wilfully unproductive employee could be described as "taking the piss" for accepting a wage while knowingly failing to deliver on their obligation, or an employer could be accused of "taking the piss" for making unreasonable requests of their employees, e.g. expecting them to do unpaid overtime . </P>

Where does the saying taking the mick come from