The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #101619   Message #2051909
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
14-May-07 - 09:42 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: Taking the Mickey -- Origins
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taking the Mickey -- Origins
Goeff the Duck has the last quack on this one.

Quotes from Oxford English Dictionary:
1. to tease. 2. to break the spirit of
"She's a terror. I expect she'll try to take the mickey out of you all right!" (1948)
".... everyone was trying to take the mickey out of him" (1952 ff.)

The penis has nothing to do with the phrase, but 'mickey' is rare slang for a penis. James Joyce, in Selected Letters, 1909: "Gently undo ... the fly of my trousers and gently take out your lover's fat mickey."

A 'mickey' also is short for a Mickey Finn (knockout drops put in a sucker's drink). Supposedly from Finn's saloon (Chicago).