I am a doctor; my friend is a patient.
I caught my friend taking a piss. I forgot to give him a pee sample tube to check on his health via urinal test, and I want to ask him:
Perhaps you are taking a piss, eh?
What is a more natural and polite way to write that sentence a native English speaker would use in a situation like this?
Answer
This might vary some by region, but, at least in the U.S., pee is a much more polite term to use than piss. Piss is considered rather vulgar.
To say this politely, I would probably say something like:
Oops! Sorry. Did I catch you going pee?
You might even make this more polite by asking:
Did I catch you going to the bathroom?
A health professional might skip the word pee, and say:
I will need you to urinate in this cup (or vial; I don't think they would use the word tube).
Not surprisingly, there are many different ways this can be said, and they vary in terms of formality and politeness, and the familiarity between the people talking. Generally speaking:
- I would ask a co-worker: Do you need to use the restroom?
- I would ask my mother: Do you need to go to the bathroom?
- I would ask my child: Do you need to go pee?
- I might ask a drinking buddy: Do you need to take a piss?
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