In my research for today's Explainer, I came across a vast and fascinating array of explanations for the phrase "piss like a racehorse." In some regions the phrase seems to be commonplace, while others have never heard it said. I'd love your comments: have you ever said it? Why do you think someone, somewhere singled out racehorses to hold up as the symbol of uncomfortable urination?

My personal opinion: people say they need to “piss like a racehorse” because of the way it sounds: the endings of “piss,” “race,” and “horse” make a string of consonance that sounds urgent, distressed, and sort of like the hissing stream they’re about let loose.

I know part of the new Fray is more interaction with the Slate writers, but honestly, I don't predict a lot of responses to this topic.

If one has to ask, he hasn't spent any time around horses, let alone thoroughbreds.

The only time a horse won't let fly is when it's running.

I had several people tell me that racehorses horses are skittish about pissing in front of people, and will therefore hold it forever until they're back in their pen or stable. None of the horses I grew up around ever seemed shy about it, though.

It's obvious that they horses piss impressively - duh. I'm curious about the phrase though - most people haven't been around racehorses and haven't ever seen or heard about one pissing. Why racehorses?

I think there is an error in the explanation. The diuretic acts at the kidney (where urine is actually formed) not the bladder. The bladder doesn't have anything to do with making/concentrating urine. It just serves as a holding station for the piss coming from the kidneys.

I'd like to add to this discussion, but I have to talk to a man about horse, (i.e., my business is urgent).

Could the thread be any more obtuse?

What were some of the strangest explanations you encountered for the phrase's origin?

I always figured it was more metaphoric than literal... "to piss like a racehorse" means to do it fast and furiously. Usually quite drunkenly and behind a tree. In such instances, fortunately, I feel too much like a stallion to pay much mind to how very un-racehorse-y my condition has become.

What are the contexts in which the phrase gets used? It's a specific subset of instances in which you really have to go, isn't it?

DavidSess:

It's obvious that they horses piss impressively - duh. I'm curious about the phrase though - most people haven't been around racehorses and haven't ever seen or heard about one pissing. Why racehorses?

Because it sounds appropriate to the need, even to those who've never seen a horse in person.

I first heard it when I was five in 1956. It was in a barn near Aberdeen, MD. A hot rider said it as she slid off the horse after finishing its breeze. Having been at the stables most of the day, I had no trouble understanding what she meant.

Different thoroughbreds are skittish about different things. Virtually all thoroughbreds are head cases to some extent. I don't doubt there are thoroughbreds with modesty issues. They have every other kind of issue you can imagine and a few no one would guess until confronted with them. But, its certainly not a common trait as a visit to any track will confirm.

I'm glad it's midday in London. I just had a little chat with a horsewoman who claims 87 years in the saddle. She tells me that people have been saying "piss like a racehorse" around barns for as long as she's been alive. She also tells me that another common phrase from her youth in the English countryside is "piss like a pack mule."

As far as I know, no one's ever thought to dope pack mules.

This may be related. In our chat, my senior horsewoman related a short anecdote about a niece of hers who had a small stable in the US sometime ago. It seems the niece acquired a promising two year old who got particularly crazed when left alone in its stall, "potty" in the terms of England.

The niece went from vet to vet asking for advice on how to train this horse not to go potty in its stall when left alone, This being America, the vets told her it was virtually impossible, unheard of, and cruel besides. Finally, one especially enlightened vet figured out the miscommunication. He, of course, suggested getting the horse a pet of its own.

Acting out when left alone is fairly common with head case thoroughbreds. Herd behavior, you know. In the case of the niece's horse, a cat sufficed. Birds, goats and ponies are also used, probably other animals as well. At any rate, her horse bonded with the cat and never had that problem again. The cat stayed in the barn. Both seemed very happy. Eventually , the stable had more cats than horses; but, no one went inappropriately "potty" anymore.

I have heard it all my life, and it always meant to piss fast and furiously. Hell, I'm not so old I can't remember when I could do that.