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It's an idiom that minimizes the person doing the pissing. For example, if I organize a group night out for my team and convince the company to pay for drinks,
by jsmthrowaway 13y ago
It's an idiom that minimizes the person doing the pissing. For example, if I organize a group night out for my team and convince the company to pay for drinks, and someone complains over my head to say "I don't drink so it's unfair for the company to pay for drinks" and gets that expense approval reversed, that's pissing on a parade.
(And yes, that example has happened to me.)
Your implication by using that idiom is that GitHub has a good thing going and Julie's accusations ruined it for everybody. I'd avoid idioms in another language unless you're sure, because that one in particular carries some teeth depending on how you use it.
- facepalm 13y agoMaybe it is also a difference between UK and US? Since Robbie Williams was using it for himself I figured it couldn't be that minimizing.
- jsmthrowaway 13y agoI'd simply hesitate before basing your understanding of the English language on a song written to air dirty laundry.
- facepalm 13y agoThank you for the clarification and the advice. It's just not practical as a non-native speaker to always be sure about the exact meanings of the words you use. Also, there are by now more non-native speakers of English than native speakers in the world, so perhaps giving some benefit of the doubt is always a good idea.
- jsmthrowaway 13y agoYou can understand how tough that is for a native speaker, though. Thanks for being reasonable about talking about it and being willing to learn!