piece of goods

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

piece of goods (plural pieces of goods)

  1. (slang, obsolete) A person, especially one with undesirable flaws or other notable characteristics.
    Hyponym: piece of work
    • 1871, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Fenton's Quest:
      'Well, upon my word,' exclaimed the father, taking the pipe from his mouth, and staring aghast at his daughter in a stupor of indignant surprise, 'you're a pretty article; you're a nice piece of goods for a man to bring up and waste his substance upon []
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see piece,‎ of,‎ goods.
    • 1889, N.Y. Supreme Court General Term, page 34:
      Usually a silk salesman, a man is accustomed to take his piece of goods and handle them, and roll them out and show them to his customers, []
[edit]

References

[edit]
  • John Camden Hotten (1873) “Gentlemen of the counter-jumping fraternity describe their 'young ladies' as 'nice pieces of goods.'”, in The Slang Dictionary