Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
can\'t have you outside the tent pissing in
English answer:
I need you onside
- The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2018-10-06 16:54:08 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Oct 3, 2018 02:53
5 yrs ago
8 viewers *
English term
can\'t have you outside the tent pissing in
English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
can\'t have you outside the tent pissing in
Boss: I need to know you'll be loyal. You'll have to respect my authority, I can't have you outside the tent pissing in.
Employee: I'll piss miles away from the tent. You won't even notice my piss.
The situation is that an employee get sacked begging his old boss to return him to the job. The boss has some conditions and he said this phrase. I know it is taken from old quote but I didn't figure out the meaning in this context.
Thanks in advance,
Employee: I'll piss miles away from the tent. You won't even notice my piss.
The situation is that an employee get sacked begging his old boss to return him to the job. The boss has some conditions and he said this phrase. I know it is taken from old quote but I didn't figure out the meaning in this context.
Thanks in advance,
Responses
+7
3 hrs
philgoddard
United States
United States
Native in English
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English
United States
Six languages into flawless English
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 4 more.
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123
Selected
I need you onside
It means that the employee must support the manager and not undermine him or her. If you piss out of the tent, you don't harm anyone. If you piss into it, you do.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Jack Doughty
35 mins
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| agree |
Mark Nathan
1 hr
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| agree |
Tony M
1 hr
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| agree |
Sarah Bessioud
1 hr
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| agree |
P.L.F. Persio
: It's what they said about Boris Johnson being appointed as Foreign Secretary by Theresa May, in 2016...;-) Ha ha, "camping" with the Tories is no mean feat.
1 hr
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And now he's pissing into the tent!
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| agree |
Charles Davis
: Credit where it's due: it was coined by Lyndon Johnson, who said it of J. Edgar Hoover (no earlier use attested).
2 hrs
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Thanks.
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| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
3 hrs
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| disagree |
Daryo
: you misinterpreted it a totally wrong direction. This employee was sacked [= he's "outside"] and FOI troublesome EX-employees (with or without good cause) are a not so rare fact of life; some CAN be a real pain in the neck/do very serious damage.
14 hrs
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You're misunderstanding the phrase. It doesn't mean outside the company, and he can't cause problems if he's been sacked.
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| agree |
acetran
6 days
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks a lot."
+1
1 hr
no quiero que seas/estés como la mosca detrás de mi oreja
Con el sentido de evitar que sea una fuente constante de preocupaciones, que pueda hacer algo que lo perjudique.
La frase completa es "It is better to have the camels inside the tent
pissing out than outside the tent pissing in". Significa mantener a personas molestas/peligrosas/poderososas, etc. de nuestro lado para poder controlarlas o evitar que se conviertan en adversarios. Es una frase típica de la diplomacia.
La traducción literal no tendría sentido en español, por eso propongo un equivalente aproximado.
La frase completa es "It is better to have the camels inside the tent
pissing out than outside the tent pissing in". Significa mantener a personas molestas/peligrosas/poderososas, etc. de nuestro lado para poder controlarlas o evitar que se conviertan en adversarios. Es una frase típica de la diplomacia.
La traducción literal no tendría sentido en español, por eso propongo un equivalente aproximado.
17 hrs
English term (edited):
can't have you outside the tent pissing in
I can't afford the risk of you causing me troubles from the outside
better the lesser evil - you being admitted inside.
That definitely applied to the FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover; seems that this (ex becoming future / born again) employee is also more trouble when kicked out than when left in.
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Note added at 20 hrs (2018-10-03 23:35:23 GMT)
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if you look at the full quote, the intended meaning is clear - it's about choosing the lesser evil:
It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.
Lyndon Johnson about J. Edgar Hoover
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover
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Note added at 3 days 6 hrs (2018-10-06 09:46:25 GMT)
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The situation is that an employee get sacked begging his old boss to return him to the job. The boss has some conditions [**for taking the employee back**] and he said this phrase.
"Boss: I need to know you'll be loyal. You'll have to respect my authority, I can't have you outside the tent pissing in.
Employee: I'll piss miles away from the tent. You won't even notice my piss."
IOW we have all the ingredients for this recipe:
"It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in."
begging his old boss to return him to the job => you can't "return to the job" in you are already "in the job", so this employee must be presently out - it's an ex-employee he's "out of the tent" pissing IN
The boss has some conditions **for taking the employee back**: "You'll have to respect my authority"
What comes next: "I can't have you outside the tent pissing in" is simply a comment on why the boss is willing to consider taking the employee back - the boss doesn't want this ex-employee causing troubles from outside to those inside.
What the boss is saying to the ex-employee he's willing to take back is:
It’s better for me to have you inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.
And as sign of goodwill the returning employee promises that once "inside the tent / back to his job" he will
"piss miles away from the tent. You won't even notice my piss." (IOW I won't be causing you any troubles).
A variation on "if you can't defeat them, then join them", or in this case "if you can't stop an ex-employee being a nuisance, better take him back"
That definitely applied to the FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover; seems that this (ex becoming future / born again) employee is also more trouble when kicked out than when left in.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 20 hrs (2018-10-03 23:35:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
if you look at the full quote, the intended meaning is clear - it's about choosing the lesser evil:
It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.
Lyndon Johnson about J. Edgar Hoover
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days 6 hrs (2018-10-06 09:46:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
The situation is that an employee get sacked begging his old boss to return him to the job. The boss has some conditions [**for taking the employee back**] and he said this phrase.
"Boss: I need to know you'll be loyal. You'll have to respect my authority, I can't have you outside the tent pissing in.
Employee: I'll piss miles away from the tent. You won't even notice my piss."
IOW we have all the ingredients for this recipe:
"It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in."
begging his old boss to return him to the job => you can't "return to the job" in you are already "in the job", so this employee must be presently out - it's an ex-employee he's "out of the tent" pissing IN
The boss has some conditions **for taking the employee back**: "You'll have to respect my authority"
What comes next: "I can't have you outside the tent pissing in" is simply a comment on why the boss is willing to consider taking the employee back - the boss doesn't want this ex-employee causing troubles from outside to those inside.
What the boss is saying to the ex-employee he's willing to take back is:
It’s better for me to have you inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.
And as sign of goodwill the returning employee promises that once "inside the tent / back to his job" he will
"piss miles away from the tent. You won't even notice my piss." (IOW I won't be causing you any troubles).
A variation on "if you can't defeat them, then join them", or in this case "if you can't stop an ex-employee being a nuisance, better take him back"
Discussion
This ex-employee was causing enough trouble after being sacked that the boss is willing to "un-sack" him.
Also, there are real-life samples aplenty showing that the logic of "he can't cause problems if he's been sacked" can backfire in spectacular ways - only in some cases, but enough often to make this assertion fatally wrong.