Piece

[Ric Flair guy]

When did it become so fashionable to refer to stories or columns as a "piece?" It's mostly fellow journalists, but for some reason it bothers me. "Check out the John Doe's piece about high school basketball." "Wow, real nice piece in this week's SI about the NFL."

This is probably the most worthless thread ever, but I was wondering if anyone has any insight into the origin of the word "piece" as it pertains to stories or columns. When I think of the word piece, the three things that come to my mind are hot chics, guns and cake -- not insightful, well reasearched and informative journalism.

 

[DemoChristian]

I haven't heard journalists use that word. I've only heard it on TV or movies.

 

[mustangj17]

When did it become so fashionable to refer to stories or columns as a "piece?" It's mostly fellow journalists, but for some reason it bothers me. "Check out the John Doe's piece about high school basketball." "Wow, real nice piece in this week's SI about the NFL."

This is probably the most worthless thread ever, but I was wondering if anyone has any insight into the origin of the word "piece" as it pertains to stories or columns. When I think of the word piece, the three things that come to my mind are hot chics, guns and cake -- not insightful, well reasearched and informative journalism.

WOOOOOO!

 

[Some Guy]

I haven't heard journalists use that word. I've only heard it on TV or movies.

Really? I hear that all the time. All the time.

And the original poster is right. This IS the most worthless thread ever

 

[Joe Williams]

I haven't heard journalists use that word. I've only heard it on TV or movies.

Really? I hear that all the time. All the time.

And the original poster is right. This IS the most worthless thread ever

I hear it all the time too. Always struck me as sort of Front Page-ish, something from a screwball comedy by way of a fast-talking newsroom of the '30s or '40s.

The general public uses them all -- story, article, piece -- and often misuses the term "column," applying it to everything they read in the paper or online. But I'll take a dumb civilian's misuse of column over what I too often hear coming from columnists themselves: Constant references to "MY column" this and "MY column" that. I have witness newspaper employees who, when introduced to someone as "a writer for the Bum**** Bugle," immediately corrects the person by saying, "a COLUMNIST for the Bum**** Bugle." Always struck me as Barney Fife sniffing and hitching up his gun belt, trying to broaden his non-existent shoulders.

But piece? I'm at peace with piece.

 

[Stitch]

I haven't heard journalists use that word. I've only heard it on TV or movies.

Really? I hear that all the time. All the time.

And the original poster is right. This IS the most worthless thread ever

I hear it all the time too. Always struck me as sort of Front Page-ish, something from a screwball comedy by way of a fast-talking newsroom of the '30s or '40s.

The general public uses them all -- story, article, piece -- and often misuses the term "column," applying it to everything they read in the paper or online. But I'll take a dumb civilian's misuse of column over what I too often hear coming from columnists themselves: Constant references to "MY column" this and "MY column" that. I have witness newspaper employees who, when introduced to someone as "a writer for the Bum**** Bugle," immediately corrects the person by saying, "a COLUMNIST for the Bum**** Bugle." Always struck me as Barney Fife sniffing and hitching up his gun belt, trying to broaden his non-existent shoulders.

But piece? I'm at peace with piece.

Sounds like the editor for the Deseret News who mentioned his grandmother had a column. Of course the editor had no journalism training before taking the job, so he had to drum up something. His grandfather was editor of the paper as well.

 

[Billy Pritchard]

Readers often refer to an article I've written as a piece. Sadly, it's usually followed by "of ****."

 

[Mediator]

"of ass."

 

[Sneed]

I hear and use the word piece plenty. Never struck me as a big deal or pretentious.

 

[EE94]

a couple of guesses - and purely so -

- its derived from somethign like "a piece of news"
I have a piece of news, or some such, translating into a piece for a newspaper

- A reluctance to use the word "story", because it implies something fictitous, so a synonym was found

I hear, and use, "piece" all the time

 

[Drip]

I prefer piece to write-up.

 

[txsportsscribe]

all we are saying is give piece a chance

 

[GuessWho]

Piece, schmiece, they're all just ****ing stories. (Damn, sounding like spnited.)

 

[Ric Flair guy]

I prefer story, myself.

 

[crusoes]

It took me a few years, but in these parts, for most people, a column is an "article."

"Liked your article on Sunday," they say. Oh, I wrote, like three and a roundup plus a column. Which one?

"Your ARTICLE," they say. "The one on the Lions."

After only a few years, I got up to speed.

 

[Stitch]

Whether to use piece or not is a question best left after deciding whether pop, soda or coke is kosher.

 

[sportsed]

"Piece" always sounded like jargon only journalists would understand, but then I heard Bush use the word in his exit interview the other day. So if The Shrub knows what the word means, I'd imagine just about anyone would, empty as it is.

Do you remember what it was like right after September the 11th around here? In press conferences and opinion pieces and in stories -- that sometimes were news stories and sometimes opinion pieces -- people were saying, how come they didn't see it, how come they didn't connect the dots? Do you remember what the environment was like in Washington? I do. When people were hauled up in front of Congress and members of Congress were asking questions about, how come you didn't know this, that, or the other? And then we start putting policy in place -- legal policy in place to connect the dots, and all of a sudden people were saying, how come you're connecting the dots?

 

[SoCalDude]

I've been in this so long that when I started, there were stories, features and columns.
Now there are pieces, containers, takeouts, enterprise, centerpieces, ......

 

[Diabeetus]

Take it!

 

[DirtyDeeds]

Doesn't bother me. And it's funny that as I'm reading this, I just heard my ME use it.
Piece out.