SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS (ENCORE EDITION): The amazing versatility of the word "piss" (PG-13).

I’ve been digging the opportunity to wear a COVID mask in public, while conceding that as a white guy, I can do it without being howitzered by those other white guys who take their bazookas with them to the bathroom to ... that's right, take a piss.

Not only is it socially responsible to wear a mask in times of pandemic, but it’s also a fun and enriching opportunity to take the metaphorical piss out of the know-nothings.

Wait, what was that?

Our lawyerly Shane’s not fluent in Commonwealth-speak?

No problem, big guy. Here at NA Confidential, we’re all about broadening perspectives and enhancing knowledge. Here’s the excellent definition, as first published here on May 9, 2018.

There's one missing from Mojo's list of British phrases: taking the piss.

Taking the piss is a Commonwealth term meaning to take liberties at the expense of others, or to be joking, or to be unreasonable. It is a shortening of the idiom taking the piss out of, which is an expression meaning to mock, tease, joke, ridicule, or scoff.^[1] It is not to be confused with "taking a piss", which refers to the act of urinating. Taking the Mickey (Mickey Bliss, Cockney rhyming slang), taking the Mick or taking the Michael is another term for making fun of someone. These terms are most widely used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

It's probably a measure of testimony to the vitality of the English language that "piss" is so versatile.

Do You Confuse this Word in British or American English? (30 Uses of the Word PISS), by Chad (Real Life Global)

This is not only one of the most COLORFUL words in the English language, it can also be very USEFUL. But, be careful, because the difference between BRITISH and AMERICAN English can also make it confusing!

Apart from the literal meaning of PISS (to urinate), it can be used to talk about ANGER, INTOXICATION, JOKING, and a huge variety of other imporant uses and collocations. Even if you´re not going to use it, it's a good idea to know how others use it.

In honor of the Triple Crown, let's pause to recall that yes, a racehorse pees like a racehorse.

horse_pee_like_a_racehorse.html">Does a Racehorse Pee Like a Racehorse?, by David Sessions (Slate)

The third leg of horse racing's Triple Crown takes place on Saturday, with the running of the Belmont Stakes. Around 60,000 fans will be watching in Elmont, N.Y., as they put down beer and the track's signature cocktails. Needless to say, they'll probably be peeing as much as the racehorses. Wait, how much does a racehorse pee?

A lot.

As for the etymology ... think "pissoir," a public urinal in France.

online.com/word/piss">piss (v.)

late 13c., from Old French pissier "urinate" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *pissiare, of imitative origin. To piss away (money, etc.) is from 1948. Related: Pissed; pissing. Pissing while (1550s) once meant "a short time."

City Hall was taking the piss when it omitted the pissoir from the farmers market. We were pissed, but now they park a portable pissoir there, and we have a place to piss, because after all, daytime on Saturday is the ideal slot to get pissed. Know what I mean?

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: Supergrass!

Supergrass was a ferocious, witty, joyous band generally associated with the 1990s-era "Britpop" rock-with-actual-instruments phenomenon, but in fact orbiting somewhere on the fringe.

Rock? Pop? Alternative? How about cool as fuck, and leave it at that?

The video is a documentary released in conjunction with an early 2000s compilation; it stops short of the group's final two albums. There was to have been a 2020 reunion tour, and perhaps the February portion went through before the planet shut down.

Supergrass tell us about their reunion and 2020 tour: “We’re going to bring joy into a slightly disturbed world” -- NME

Supergrass: "We're always been about manic energy" -- The Guardian

So, where does Shane enter into it? Supergrass doesn't fit the buttoned-down Gahanist culture of corruption.

Having been a Supergrass fan since 1999 or thereabouts, it never dawned on me even once to learn what "supergrass" means, if anything.

When (Gaz) Coombes began working at the local Harvester he befriended co-worker Mick Quinn. The two realised they had common music interests and Coombes invited Quinn to come and jam with himself and (Danny) Goffey. In February 1993 they formed Theodore Supergrass, "for about two months" Quinn explains, "then we realized that Theodore was a bit rubbish so we took that off."

Goffey claims that the name was his idea and says; "Although the others will dispute it, it was me. We were Theodore Supergrass and the idea was the band would be a little black character, and we wouldn't ever have to do interviews. We'd get the questions in advance, script the answers and then animate Theodore Supergrass answering them. But it cost too much money."

In British English, "supergrass" is an informant.

supergrass
noun
US /ˈsuː.pɚ.ɡræs/ UK /ˈsuː.pə.ɡrɑːs/

a person, especially a criminal, who gives the police a lot of information about the activities of criminals, especially serious ones

Compare: fink, sneak, snitch, stool pigeon, telltale, tattletale

Gaz gets the coda.

“It was being in the studio that broke us. For me it was almost like post-traumatic stress – why would you want to revisit a place where one feels it was at its worst? Supergrass has always been about manic energy. The essence of playing live is where it really works.”

Glastonbury, 2004:

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: The amazing versatility of the word "piss" (PG-13).

There's one missing from Mojo's list of British phrases: taking the piss.

Taking the piss is a Commonwealth term meaning to take liberties at the expense of others, or to be joking, or to be unreasonable. It is a shortening of the idiom taking the piss out of, which is an expression meaning to mock, tease, joke, ridicule, or scoff.^[1] It is not to be confused with "taking a piss", which refers to the act of urinating. Taking the Mickey (Mickey Bliss, Cockney rhyming slang), taking the Mick or taking the Michael is another term for making fun of someone. These terms are most widely used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

It's probably a measure of testimony to the vitality of the English language that "piss" is so versatile.

Do You Confuse this Word in British or American English? (30 Uses of the Word PISS), by Chad (Real Life Global)

This is not only one of the most COLORFUL words in the English language, it can also be very USEFUL. But, be careful, because the difference between BRITISH and AMERICAN English can also make it confusing!

Apart from the literal meaning of PISS (to urinate), it can be used to talk about ANGER, INTOXICATION, JOKING, and a huge variety of other imporant uses and collocations. Even if you´re not going to use it, it's a good idea to know how others use it.

In honor of the Triple Crown, let's pause to recall that yes, a racehorse pees like a racehorse.

Does a Racehorse Pee Like a Racehorse?, by David Sessions (Slate)

The third leg of horse racing's Triple Crown takes place on Saturday, with the running of the Belmont Stakes. Around 60,000 fans will be watching in Elmont, N.Y., as they put down beer and the track's signature cocktails. Needless to say, they'll probably be peeing as much as the racehorses. Wait, how much does a racehorse pee?

A lot.

As for the etymology ... think "pissoir," a public urinal in France.

online.com/word/piss">piss (v.)

late 13c., from Old French pissier "urinate" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *pissiare, of imitative origin. To piss away (money, etc.) is from 1948. Related: Pissed; pissing. Pissing while (1550s) once meant "a short time."

City Hall was taking the piss when it omitted the pissoir from the farmers market. We were pissed, but now they park a portable pissoir there, and we have a place to piss, because after all, daytime on Saturday is the ideal slot to get pissed. Know what I mean?

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: Fun with British phrases.

(Regular readers will appreciate Andy Borowitz's satire at The New Yorker: STEPHEN HAWKING ANGERS TRUMP SUPPORTERS WITH BAFFLING ARRAY OF LONG WORDS)

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Welcome to another installment of SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS, a regular Wednesday feature at NA Confidential.

But why all these new words?

Why not the old, familiar, comforting words, like the ones you're sure to hear at Democratic Party fundraising movie night?

It's because a healthy vocabulary isn't about intimidation through erudition. Rather, it's about selecting the right word and using it correctly, whatever one's pay grade or station in life.

Even remuneration-engorged municipal corporate attorneys are eligible for this enlightening expansion of personal horizons, and really, as we patiently compile FOIA requests in lieu of any discernible municipal commitment to transparency, all we have left is plenty of time -- and the opportunity to learn something, if we're so inclined.

This week, something sure to baffle the Disney devotees. You must click through to read them all, though number three is provided; the American variant probably is "all hat, no cattle."

Can you think of any local examples of trouserlessness?

8 British Expressions, Explained, by Erin McCarthy (Mental Floss)

The British have many delightful and colorful expressions that often make no sense to those of us on this side of the pond. Luckily, Christopher J. Moore has decoded a number of them in How to Speak Brit: The Quintessential Guide to the King's English, Cockney Slang, and Other Flummoxing British Phrases. Here are a few of our favorites.

1. LOAD OF COBBLERS
2. HOW’S YOUR FATHER?

3. ALL MOUTH AND NO TROUSERS
Hailing from the north of England, this phrase is “used to describe a man whose sense of self-importance is in inverse proportion to his actual relevance,” Moore writes. The mouth refers to brash talk; trousers, of course, are pants.

4. BOB’S YOUR UNCLE
5. BY HOOK OR BY CROOK
6. ON THE PULL
7. SPEND A PENNY
8. SWEET FANNY ADAMS