a piece of ass

Jean-Jacques Lequeu [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons


from 1811, by Francis Grose

PIECE. A wench. A damned good or bad piece; a girl who is more or less active and skilful in the amorous congress. Hence the (CAMBRIDGE) toast, May we never have a PIECE (peace) that will injure the constitution.

I've also read somewhere--can't locate it right now--that "ass" was specifically referred to because that was considered to be the nastiest part of the human body, so it was a way of reinforcing the worthlessness of the woman who is only considered as a sexual object with no relationship potential.  It reduces her not only to her body as sexual object, but degrades her further by equating her with the part of the body which is most closely associated with waste.

Nasty.

I've never used this term to refer to a woman . . . not even as a "joke," and I'll say almost anything for a joke.  But a piece of ass is not in my vocabulary.  I remember standing in the hallway at school with a young female teacher and another male teacher my age, and a very attractive young girl walked by.  Almost immediately the young female teacher said, "She's a piece of ass."  And you could tell it was meant as a way of reducing the girl, not an acknowledgement of the girl's physical beauty.  I was stunned.  Even if that girl was the Great Whore of Louisville, she didn't deserve to be thought of as a piece of ass by one of her teachers.

But then again, a quick Google Search revealed a woman's t-shirt emblazoned with the words

100% Certified USDA Approved Piece of Ass √

which I'd assume only exists because there are some women who think that this is an apt way to advertise themselves to the world,  so maybe it's just me.

But I was struck by the fact that in the movie Saul fia (Son of Saul), the Nazis referred to the dead bodies of Jews as "the pieces"--presumably in order to distance themselves from the fact that they were participating in the merciless slaughter of innocent fellow human beings. 

That might be worth thinking about next time you hear someone use this phrase.