meaning - What does the British idiom "taking the piss" mean?


I most recently heard this in the context of a business deal:



Sorry gents, looks like we'll be taking the piss on that one.



I understood that the business had suffered a financial loss, although I expected I was missing some nuance.


In entirely different scenarios, I've heard piss used in British idiomatic phrasing that suggested a lack of concern, or carelessness. Those phrases are difficult to reconcile with the previously mentioned usage. Are there multiple idiomatic meanings for this word, or am I missing some kind of unifying theme?


Updated: I might not have a perfect recollection of the quote. But given the typical meaning of the phrase, I wonder if the speaker's intention was along the lines of "We'll be laughing about this later." Or maybe I just missed the real meaning.



Answer



"Taking the piss" simply means "making fun of" in its usual context. It's a very common expression within Britain, but probably rare elsewhere. ("Taking the mickey" is a similar, slightly sanitised version, that perhaps is used elsewhere?)


The Wikipedia page gives a fairly good overview.


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