pissed off

[Offroad]

Dear friends...

I have come across several adjectives (some of them are offensive) that sometimes have different meanings depending where they are used, (UK and other places).

One of them is 'pissed off', which in the US, they usually omit the preposition 'off'.

My question:

Does 'pissed [off]' mean 'annoyed' and/or 'drunk' in the UK?

Many thanks

 

[tedtmc]

I think they have the same meaning in US/UK/Aust.

pissed off - annoyed
piss off - go away
pissed - drunk
piss - urinate

The slang words are supposed to be uncouth language.

not a teacher

 

[Offroad]

I think they have the same meaning in US/UK/Aust.

That's what I thought (first), but then a friend from MO/US disagreed. So I am asking the teachers.

 

[tedtmc]

That's what I thought (first), but then a friend from MO/US disagreed. So I am asking the teachers.

The Aussies and Kiwis especially, like to use those phrases. Probably not so much in US.

 

[Raymott]

I think they have the same meaning in US/UK/Aust.

pissed off - annoyed
piss off - go away
pissed - drunk
piss - urinate

The slang words are supposed to be uncouth language.

not a teacher

That's how I'd use them. However, "pissed" can also mean annoyed or angry, esp. in AmE.
I'm not sure whether they use it this way in UK.

 

[Ouisch]

In AmE, "pissed" (which is still considered by some folks to be a vulagarity, even though it is now frequently used on TV shows and such) means to be angry, upset or frustrated. It is rarely, if ever, used to describe someone who is drunk.

 

[Barb_D]

Echoing what Ouisch just said, if you told a typical American that someone was pissed, the idea of being drunk would not occur to most of us. We would immediately assume you meant angry.

 

[Heterological]

I only just recently learned the "pissed" = "drunk" euphemism for non-American forms of English, and I'm 26! I was following a thread on another message board, and it came up in conversation as one of those "potentially embarassing things to say overseas" lines. So, yes, "pissed" or "pissed off," in American English, is strictly used for anger, not drunkenness.

 

[Allen165]

I only just recently learned the "pissed" = "drunk" euphemism for non-American forms of English, and I'm 26! I was following a thread on another message board, and it came up in conversation as one of those "potentially embarassing things to say overseas" lines. So, yes, "pissed" or "pissed off," in American English, is strictly used for anger, not drunkenness.

To avoid confusion you could say, I'm ticked off.

 

[Raymott]

To avoid confusion you could say, I'm ticked off.

Yes, or for even more clarity, you could say, "I'm angry and annoyed, but I'm not drunk".

By the way, 'pissed' as in 'drunk' is often expressed as:
"pissed as a parrot", "pissed as a newt". (Don't ask me why.)

 

[Tdol]

That's how I'd use them. However, "pissed" can also mean annoyed or angry, esp. in AmE.
I'm not sure whether they use it this way in UK.

I never hear it used this way- it just means drunk to me.

 

[Offroad]

I never hear it used this way- it just means drunk to me.

Many thanks