Guest  +  90612 Sat, 16 Apr 05 03:40 PM Hello, Please look at following sentences. 1. Anybody who sits down to write will use the clay of their own life. 2.To answer that would take the piss out of the whole thing. What do they mean? Thanks. Guest

	CalifJim  +  90799 Sun, 17 Apr 05 07:02 AM A little more context would help, but here goes: 1. Anybody who writes uses the experiences from their own life as a basis for their writing, the way a sculptor uses clay to mold things. 2. If you answered it that way it would remove all the [power of expression / forcefulness / 'spice' / interest] from it. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,452 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

	nona the brit  +  91084 Mon, 18 Apr 05 09:32 AM Hi. In BrE 2) is an idiom that means 'to make fun of'. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all.

	abbie1948  +  91156 Mon, 18 Apr 05 02:08 PM To "make fun of " means to make a joke about someone or something in an unkind way. To "take the piss out of someone" meansto make a joke about someone or to make someone look silly. This is only used very informally. You will find a number of idiomd using the word "piss" (which is slang for urine), all of which are very informal. abbie1948 Joined on Thu, Mar 24 2005 England Senior Member 2,657 Hope that helps. Abbie Jokes

	bvpraveen  +  91186 Mon, 18 Apr 05 03:42 PM Hello Abbie, Do we really need to know the background story or the reason behind any idioms meaning? Will it help? Meanwhile, 'taking the URINE out of someone' doesn't even make sense. How do the idioms get their strange meanings? Thanks. bvpraveen Joined on Sat, Mar 5 2005 Coimbatore, India Regular Member 507 Please feel free to correct my grammatical mistakes. Idioms

	abbie1948  +  91190 Mon, 18 Apr 05 03:52 PM That is the whole point of an idion, Praveen! this is the definition from Cambridge advanced Learners' dictionary: "a group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word understood on its own" And this is from Webster. "an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either grammatically (as no, it wasn't me) or in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (as Monday week for "the Monday a week after next Monday")" In other words, an idiom is an expression which means something other than the actual words spoken. It has been said that "take the piss" derives from an old expression "piss-proud".(first recorded 1788) When men wake in the morning with a full bladder, they may have an erection, which quickly diappears on urination. So, "to take the piss out of someone" is to bring somebody down, deflate their ego. abbie1948 Idioms

	bvpraveen  +  91197 Mon, 18 Apr 05 04:06 PM Thanks Abbie. What about the other one? Do we really need to know the background story or the reason behind any idioms meaning? Will it help? bvpraveen Idioms

	abbie1948  +  91199 Mon, 18 Apr 05 04:15 PM No, it's not necessary to know the background or origin of an idiom, but it can be interesting. you just need to be able to recognise an idiom abbie1948 Idioms