# Pieces Parts. What does it mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 13, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849 "2008-08-13T15:11:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/1 "2008-08-13T15:11:49Z")
I’ve been hearing this phrase more and more lately and it’s really driving me insane. What does it mean? “I’ll put together a list of pieces parts.” “Here you’ll see the various pieces parts.” “We’re waiting on pieces parts.” Ahhh! It sounds so stupid to my ears. If you mean parts, say parts. If you mean pieces, say pieces. If you don’t know what you mean, don’t say both! If you are trying to say a piece of a part, then it is still a piece - not a pieces part. A part of a piece is still a part! Auuugh! the words have lost their meaning. Pieces… peeces…pea says…peace eds…pisces… pie lesu domine ::WHACK:: dona e es requim. OK, here’s where the IMHO comes in. If you have heard this phrase, what is your opinion on it (humble or otherwise)? And is there a reason for the jamming the two words together? Am I missing something? Is there any way this isn’t as stupid as it sounds to me? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/2 "2008-08-13T15:18:02Z")
The first time I heard it was an old Wendy’s commercial making fun of McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets: Customer: What’s it made from? McDrone: Parts. Customer: What kind of parts? McDrone: Pieces parts. Customer: Pieces parts? McDrone: Yep. And parts is parts. I’ve used it (and heard it used) since then as a humorous way of saying “you don’t want to know what’s in it”. I’ve never heard anyone actually use it seriously, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/3 "2008-08-13T15:21:33Z")
Found the [commercial.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTzLVIc-O5E) I misremembered the actual exchange, but “pieces parts” is used. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/4 "2008-08-13T15:25:37Z")
The Wendy’s commercial was the first thing I thought of too. A previous boss used to say “piece-parts” when he was referring to something overly complex or cobbled together. Like, “I’m tired of dealing with all these piece-parts. We need a new system.” That’s the only time I’ve heard it. I thought it was an OK way to convey the sense that this was something that was thrown together into a big fiddly mess – we’re not just dealing with the damned _parts_, we’re dealing with _pieces of parts_! Yeah, stupid upon analysis, but I kind of liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/5 "2008-08-13T16:24:54Z")
Never heard it myself, but my blood pressure is rising already… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/6 "2008-08-13T17:44:24Z")
I’ve never heard it either. It grates on my nerves irregardless. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/7 "2008-08-13T17:48:10Z")
I’ve often heard “pieces parts” used as a euphemism for genitalia. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/8 "2008-08-13T17:53:34Z")
I’ve heard it in manufacturing. I hear it as pieces/parts. The implication I get is: “We are waiting for pieces and/or parts in order to be able to finish the job.” Doesn’t bother me at all. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/9 "2008-08-13T18:03:40Z")
[QUOTE=Paintcharge] I’ve heard it in manufacturing. I hear it as pieces/parts. The implication I get is: “We are waiting for pieces and/or parts in order to be able to finish the job.” Doesn’t bother me at all. [/QUOTE] I buy that. And, I’m guessing that is what is trying to be conveyed here as well. But what, in the name of Lucifer’s rotting crotch fungus, is wrong with just saying pieces? Or just saying parts? How does pieces/parts convey anything more? When I hear it it sounds like the person saying it is trying to sound smarter than they are - and that’s how they come off. Luckily it sounds like this phrase isn’t too widely spread. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/10 "2008-08-13T18:20:13Z")
I haven’t heard “pieces parts” but we use “piece parts” quite a bit. As opposed to an assembly or weldment. “It’s not a weldment, it’s a piece part.” Meaning a stand-alone machined part. FWIW, I’m in mechanical engineering. ---
**Author:** ![tbdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@tbdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tbdi)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/11 "2008-08-13T18:34:05Z")
[QUOTE=Bayard] … referring to something overly complex or cobbled together. [/QUOTE] I’ve heard, and used, this expression all my life and always assumed that “piece’s” started out as a possessive, not a plural (the piece’s parts). I would use it more for something that was “cobbled together” from parts of other things, or for something that had a larger than expected number of small parts, but definitely with the sense of “the parts that make up the piece”. In some cases it could be parts of many different pieces of something even bigger as in “I finished replacing the start motor in my car and now have some piece’s parts left over”. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/12 "2008-08-13T18:41:58Z")
I heard the expression on the shop floor at my old job. It struck me as a bit odd. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/13 "2008-08-13T18:58:42Z")
In electronics manufacturing the term “piece parts” (singular on the former) is used all the time to differentiate between a handful of individual unassembled electronic parts and, well, an actual electronics assembly. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/14 "2008-08-13T19:03:39Z")
I’ve never heard this expression in my life, and I’d never use it as I generally don’t use the word ‘piece’ but **tbdi** ’s explanation makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/15 "2008-08-13T19:37:02Z")
[QUOTE=Dolores Reborn] I haven’t heard “pieces parts” but we use “piece parts” quite a bit. As opposed to an assembly or weldment. “It’s not a weldment, it’s a piece part.” Meaning a stand-alone machined part. FWIW, I’m in mechanical engineering. [/QUOTE] Interesting. I’m in Aerospace Engineering - which is just Mechanical Engineering with a few more fluids classes. OK, so I get what you’re saying. But, if you were to call it a piece or a part - it still wouldn’t be mistaken for an assembly or a weldment. [QUOTE=tbdi] I’ve heard, and used, this expression all my life and always assumed that “piece’s” started out as a possessive, not a plural (the piece’s parts). I would use it more for something that was “cobbled together” from parts of other things, or for something that had a larger than expected number of small parts, but definitely with the sense of “the parts that make up the piece”. In some cases it could be parts of many different pieces of something even bigger as in “I finished replacing the start motor in my car and now have some piece’s parts left over”. [/QUOTE] Yeah, you could say that. Or you could say: “I finished replacing the starter motor in my car and now have some parts left over” or “I finished replacing the starter motor in my car and now have some pieces left over” And your point would be conveyed just as well. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/16 "2008-08-13T20:07:09Z")
[QUOTE=brewha] OK, so I get what you’re saying. But, if you were to call it a piece or a part - it still wouldn’t be mistaken for an assembly or a weldment. [/QUOTE] I guess it would come up when you’re just talking about a part number, as a way of describing what it is. Usually, I just call it a “part.” It seems it’s part of the vernacular - maybe a Southern thing? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/17 "2008-08-13T20:59:39Z")
It sounds retarded. I suggest you end every conversation with the boss with thank you you or maybe wubble wubble. When he says “What?” you can say it makes as much sense as pieces parts. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/18 "2008-08-13T21:08:20Z")
We all use colloquial terms that sound “retarded.” But from the get-go, we realize that sooner, rather than later, when the rubber hits the road, at the end of the day, these are just sayings. In terms of words I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/19 "2008-08-13T21:40:21Z")
“Piece Parts” has been a standard manufacturing term as long as I can remember. I’ve never heard the term “pieces parts.” But if I _did,_ I’d distinguish the two by pieces being standalone things and parts being items that when assembled together become some sort of useful object. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849/20 "2008-08-13T21:44:48Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] We all use colloquial terms that sound “retarded.” But from the get-go, we realize that sooner, rather than later, when the rubber hits the road, at the end of the day, these are just sayings. In terms of words I mean. [/QUOTE] No, **we all** don’t. I almost punched out my computer screen after reading your sentence :mad: [sup]\*[/sup] Don’t even get me started on “It is what it is”. I’d wager that there does not exist a more widely used yet completely fucking worthless statememt. [sup]\*[/sup]Don’t worry, I got your intent. 😃 That’s just the kind of crap that just grates on my brain. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pieces-parts-what-does-it-mean/459849.md?page=2)