piece of goods

English

Noun

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, […]

Related terms

• piece goods

References

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