# piece d'resistance
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piece-dresistance/155388
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 16, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piece-dresistance/155388 "2003-02-16T04:53:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@sbenton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbenton)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piece-dresistance/155388/1 "2003-02-16T04:53:38Z")
What is the literal translation of _piece d’resistance_? I usually see it used to mean “the finishing touch” but if _piece_ and _resistance_ are cognates, it doesn’t make much sense to me.
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### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piece-dresistance/155388/2 "2003-02-16T05:22:59Z")
My guess is that it is an idiom. In French, _resistance_ does mean resistance. _Piece_ does have a few other meanings than simply the English piece or bit (_e.g._, document), but none of them clearly indicate to me where the idiom originated.
One point in the English: _piece d’resistance_ does not mean the “finishing touches” so much as the centerpiece. In a meal, after one has laid out the bread and soup and salad, one brings the _piece d’resistance_ to the table (for example the Thanksgiving turkey, the Christmas goose, or Grandma’s finest soufflé). Perhaps the “resistance” is overcoming the difficulties of creating the masterpiece.
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### Author:  [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piece-dresistance/155388/3 "2003-02-16T05:50:50Z")
I believe the “finishing touches” are “les derniers mains.”
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### Author:  [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2003, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piece-dresistance/155388/4 "2003-02-16T06:20:47Z")
**pièce de résistance** n, pl **pièces de résistance** [F, lit., piece of resistance] (1839) 1: the chief dish of a meal 2: an outstanding item or event: showpiece.
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### Author:  [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2003, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piece-dresistance/155388/5 "2003-02-16T06:43:26Z")
> **[Dictionary.com Is The World’s Favorite Online Dictionary](https://www.dictionary.com)**
>
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You know how people chide each other on this board for not trying Google? My new one is [www.dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com)
“French : pièce, piece + de, of, with + résistance, staying power, lastingness.”
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### Author:  [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piece-dresistance/155388/6 "2003-02-16T22:06:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by sbenton \*
> \*\*What is the literal translation of _piece d’resistance_? I usually see it used to mean “the finishing touch” but if _piece_ and _resistance_ are cognates, it doesn’t make much sense to me. \*\*
They are, more or less (though, as outlined by tomnded, the word “piece” has a lot of other meanings in french, for instance : play (theater), coin, room, etc…). And the meaning of “piece de resistance” in french is the same than the english one given by tomndeb. It doesn’t make more sense in french. It could mean “the dish which will resist the longest to your appetite”, but it could certainly have an origin making more sense than that…
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### Author:  [@sbenton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbenton)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piece-dresistance/155388/7 "2003-02-16T23:14:22Z")
Thanks! That helps a lot. It makes much more sense now.