was: RE: [semi-OT] News on Jon White, ex-list admin. Now about Britishisms

> Um...

It's a British (and Australian?) expression that means "making fun of
something".
Also stated as "taking the piss out of ______" - means the same thing.

We might say "poking fun at _____" or "making fun of _____" or "hacking
on
____"

ie: They might use it like this: "I was at the pub the other night with my
mates, and they were taking the mickey out of me something fierce"

Translated into Northamericanese, we might say "I was in the bar the other
night with by buddies, and they were hacking on me something fierce"

I heard a story once about a military exercise that was taking place in one of
the American desert training areas. It was a joint exercise with Australian,
US and British troops. They had severe communication problems, because they
couldn't understand what each other was saying over radios.
 :)