To take the cake or the biscuit?

I called J this afternoon to wake him up for school (he's doing a course for his company). We chatted for a while and somehow, we went to the age old topic of him being such a cutie when he was a toddler.

I told him 'Your brothers could hardly compare. When it comes to overwhelming cuteness, who takes the cake?'

There was silence (which is not uncommon when on the phone with J).

Immediately I knew he didn't get it.

'Me' he muttered softly, unsure if that should be the answer.

I asked in a resigned tone 'You didn't get it again right?' (J has this problem of not knowing what I'm talking about, which is sad).

I was about to blow up (like I normally would) because I couldn't understand how two people can be so close yet one cannot get what the other is saying. A certain connection is defo lacking although we've known each other for years now.

Back to the convo.

J admitted he didn't get me and apologised for faking a reply (which is something that riles me no end - if you don't get something, ASK. Don't pretend you got it).

I repeated myself. After ascertaining that he could hear me but couldn't understand me, I realised that he has never heard this phrase 'take the cake'. I was flabbergasted. A 'stupid' escaped my lips until I realised that he didn't grow up in the American culture. He is British. My bad. Shite. Heh.

I then explained the phrase with an example 'Miss X may have a sweet face but when it comes to real beauty, Miss Y takes the cake'.

J then told me 'The closest thing I've heard is to 'take the biscuit''.

Ok, was he being sarcastic? But, it's not like J to be witty or funny.

'Make a sentence with that' I insisted.

'He really takes the biscuit' J attempted.

WTF? That's it??

Wow, he sure is good with this. Not.

'Don't lie to me! This phrase does not exist RIGHT?' I was sure I was going to catch him out.

He explained that the phrase 'to take the biscuit' refers to poking fun. Like 'take the mickey' and 'take the piss'. Now, if all means the same thing, why the hell do we need to 'take' so many things to make one simple point? British people are weird.

Update: I just did a search. To 'take the biscuit' is NOT to poke fun. It means 'absolute limit'. So in terms of meaning, 'take the cake' and 'take the biscuit' are not so different after all.

Well, at least we both learnt something new today.