Learn English – Meaning of “to take the biscuit”

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What is the meaning, origin and earliest use of the phrase "to take the biscuit"?

In the British comedy TV serial I am watching, the guy is upset because things are not happening as per his wishes. He is assembling a do-it-yourself baby cot for his daughter's baby, finishes assembling it, and goes out of the room. Then, when he returns to the room after some time, he sees that the baby cot is undone and all the parts separated, so he becomes very angry.

He is talking to his wife narrating all things during the day that went wrong, and when he comes to mentioning the baby cot, he says "…but this one takes the biscuit".

Best Answer

According to The Urban Dictionary, the phrase

Take the biscuit

is defined as-

take the biscuit

Chiefly a British idiom. When something "takes the biscuit" then it has become really bad, annoying or objectionable. Often used when something has worsened.

Couple of examples of the usage of this phrase-

Jeff has always been annoying, but his latest stunt takes the biscuit.

Petrol has always been expensive, but these new prices really do take the biscuit.

Therefore, in the show you saw, the phrase- "but this one takes the biscuit" is an idiom that the guy uses to say that among all the things that went wrong/bad that day, the baby cot(or rather- undoing of the baby cot) was the worst of them all.

Hope the meaning is clear to you now!

Also, here is a Google N-Gram which shows the usage of this phrase across 1800-2000. I would say, it started being used roughly around 1880.

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