A piece of document

Question

The rule I learned at school is, the phrase "a piece of" can only be followed by an uncountable noun. I feel however, it's OK to say "a piece of document".What is your opinion about it?Thanks!

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]The rule I learned at school is, the phrase "a piece of" can only be followed by an uncountable noun. I feel however, it's OK to say "a piece of document". What is your opinion about it?[/nq]
I'm inclined to give you a piece of my mind. But that might make you want a piece of me. Maybe a piece of cake would satisfy you? I think "a piece of document" is the piece that passeth all understanding.
John Dean
Oxford

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]The rule I learned at school is, the phrase "a piece of" can only be followed by an uncountable noun. I feel however, it's OK to say "a piece of document". What is your opinion about it?[/nq]
A piece of a document could mean a section of the content of a document or it could mean that you stuck the document in a paper-cutter and are looking at the hacked-off lower right quadrant of your dissertation.

"Piece" requires disambiguation.
Furthermore, it sounds quirky. If that's appropriate for the tone of what you're writing, then sure, why not use it? Who be I to go all academic on a budding Joycean? But if clarity is your goal, then "section", "chapter" or "division" might be better for content and "page" or "portion" (or something much more colorful) might be better for some physical part.

Alan "peace of cake" Brooks

Usenet · Answer

(in article (Email Removed)):
[nq:1]The rule I learned at school is, the phrase "a piece of" can only be followed by an uncountable noun. I feel however, it's OK to say "a piece of document". What is your opinion about it?[/nq]
A piece of documentation, maybe. A piece of the physical object, never.

John Varela
Trade NEW lamps for OLD for email.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]The rule I learned at school is, the phrase "a ... "a piece of document". What is your opinion about it?[/nq]
[nq:1]A piece of documentation, maybe. A piece of the physical object, never.[/nq]
Never, you say? Lemme see...
I was in the Berkshire Records Office on Wednesday, and the tithe map I was working with was pretty fragile. I asked the archivist to roll it back up: if a piece broke off, I didn't want to be the one left holding a piece of document that belonged with the map.

Cheers, Harvey
Canadian and British English, indiscriminately mixed

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]The rule I learned at school is, the phrase "a ... "a piece of document". What is your opinion about it?[/nq]
[nq:1]A piece of documentation, maybe. A piece of the physical object, never.[/nq]
With "a piece of document" I want to refer to a relief on the facade of an old house.
Sounds not OK?
Thanks!

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]With "a piece of document" I want to refer to a relief on the facade of an old house.[/nq]
What about "part of a document"?

Les

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]With "a piece of document" I want to refer to a relief on the facade of an old house. Sounds not OK?Not OK. However, as was demonstrated in the post by HVS, some context can enable a "rightness" to the usage.[/nq]
I think a paragraph in which you are discussing a frieze as an historical or artistic document, you might be OK, but you have to clearly establish the antecedent, and then refer to the "piece of that document, the. . . (appositive reference to be extra clear). Otherwise, "a piece of sculpture", "a piece of history", "a piece of the facade".

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]With "a piece of document" I want to refer to a relief on the facade of an old house. Sounds not OK?[/nq]
[nq:1]Not OK. However, as was demonstrated in the post by HVS, some context can enable a "rightness" to the usage. ... (appositive reference to be extra clear). Otherwise, "a piece of sculpture", "a piece of history", "a piece of the facade".[/nq]
I want to emphasize, that the relief is not a picture somebody painted for fun, but a historical document, "a piece of document".

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Not OK. However, as was demonstrated in the post by ... sculpture", "a piece of history", "a piece of the facade".[/nq]
[nq:1]I want to emphasize, that the relief is not a picture somebody painted for fun, but a historical document, "a piece of document".[/nq]
A relief is a kind of sculpture. Either it is an applied plaster or mosaic or it is a carved into a background material or with a background removed, as in a cameo. A relief may be high or low relief.

As I said, though, it is not a document unless you first provide a context in which the relief or facade is identified as a document. An old person's face, for example, is skin and bones. But you can, with context, define the face as a document upon which is written the vicissitudes of the person's life. His victories and defeats. Then, you can take a piece of that document...say a wrinkle...and discuss the nature of that "piece" whether it be the death of a child, a grueling event in a war, a period of great famine. But first, you have to set the context.
OK. The Picture of Dorian Gray. That is a story about a picture of a person. The portrait undergoes changes related to the life of its owner. The portrait may document (be a document) of the owner's history. You can read about the novel at:
Picture of Dorian Gray .

Now, having established that the portrait is a document, you might take a feature of the portrait, and call that feature "a piece of the document".
I visited some lovely churches and other sites in Spain. I was amazed at some Roman Bath, which, modified by the Moors, had script from the Koran painted (perhaps engraved) and baked into the clay on the main row of tiles which surrounded the room at the height of my eyes. Now, each tile could be said to be a piece of a document.
A piece of a flag may be said to be a piece of a document, if we incorporate the history of a movement into that flag.

A hex sign on the end of a barn in Pennsylvania Dutch country can be a document. A board removed from it can be a piece of a document.

I saw a TV show discussing the possible return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece. The film toured one room of the Marbles in which an extensive frieze was displayed on a shelf around the room. I was obvious that the frieze was an extended pictorial (well, sculptural) documentation of some people or events, historical or mythical, created for decoration, honor or worship, or education. But it was all in ruins. Separate chunks of marble with a lot of pieces missing. Still, those pieces missing or present were "pieces of a document". But you have to indicate the nature of the document. Simple rocks in an accidental arrangement could not be considered pieces of a document.

More. Sorry, I talk to myself, sometimes, trying to define things better in my mind's eye. A letter, a souveneir referred to in the letter, a recollection of a smell or a tune. All can be considered "a document" or "pieces of the same document". But that is getting all poetical and metaphorical. Mushy.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Not OK. However, as was demonstrated in the post by ... sculpture", "a piece of history", "a piece of the facade".[/nq]
[nq:1]I want to emphasize, that the relief is not a picture somebody painted for fun, but a historical document, "a piece of document".[/nq]
In that case, I think "a piece of documentation" is a more appropriate phrase. I don't think it's the best phrase you could choose, but most people will at least understand the idea you're trying to get across. Better choices, IMO, would be "a piece of history" or "an historical document," though these may sound good or bad depending on the precise context.

A piece of document

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