garment

Forums: English, Esl, Grammar
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In English, is it possible/grammatical/acceptable/idiomatic to say 'a piece of garment'? I have this problem because I hear it sometimes on the radio, but when we can say 'a garment', I just think 'a piece of garment' is not English at all. Do you agree?

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Type: Discussion • Score: 7 • Views: 2,440 • Replies: 23

[+4] - contrex - 07/20/2013[quote="WBYeats"]I just think 'a piece of garment' is not English at all. Do you agree?[/quote] Yes, I agree. Whoever you heard on the radio was committing an error....
[+3] - contrex - 07/20/2013[quote="Lustig Andrei"]According to Punkey, they do say it in the garment industry.[/quote] He gives no verifiable examples.

@WBYeats,

It's probably not incorrect, but colloquially it's an unusual construction. Most people I know would not use it. They'd say 'a piece of clothing' but the word 'garment' usually stands by itself.

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Accessories, such as scarves or shawls, can be a "piece of garment" when describing an outfit.

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@WBYeats,

I've never heard that phrase. Perhaps it's a regional idiom of some sort.

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An "outfit" can be comprised of several pieces of garment. It's a common fashion term.

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@PUNKEY,

WBYeats wrote:

I just think 'a piece of garment' is not English at all. Do you agree?

Yes, I agree. Whoever you heard on the radio was committing an error.

PUNKEY wrote:

An "outfit" can be comprised of several pieces of garment. It's a common fashion term.

'Garment' is a countable noun. A garment is an item of clothing. Several pieces of clothing can make up an outfit. Nobody says 'pieces of garment'.

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@contrex,

contrex wrote:

'Garment' is a countable noun. A garment is an item of clothing. Several pieces of clothing can make up an outfit. Nobody says 'pieces of garment'.

According to Punkey, they do say it in the garment industry. Never having worked in that industry, I am in no position to deny that.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Lustig Andrei wrote:

According to Punkey, they do say it in the garment industry.

He gives no verifiable examples.

1 Reply

@contrex,

A piece of garment sounds wrong. The garment or a garment, maybe.

He cut off a piece of a/the garment, to analyze the cloth....

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@Lustig Andrei,

Lustig Andrei wrote:

According to Punkey, they do say it in the garment industry.

s/he said it was a fashion term - with no back-up for that comment

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@ehBeth,

Maybe it's an Inglish thing?

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https://www.google.com/search?q=layering+pieces+of+garment&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=rVHtUd3DJaLlyAGQr4HQCg&ved=0CGYQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=681

1 Reply

@PUNKEY,

No proof there. That's a Google Image search, which uses fuzzy word matching. If you switch to text search, there is no evidence in any of the results for that usage.

1 Reply

@contrex,

Thank you, Contrex.

If I found something like 'piece of garment' on/in (which one should I use?)the CORPUS OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN ENGLISH, what would you think?

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@WBYeats,

WBYeats wrote:

the CORPUS OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN ENGLISH, what would you think?

If you wish to learn the American dialect.

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@ehBeth,

Quote:

s/he said it was a fashion term - with no back-up for that comment

Hell, that's the norm for folks like Merry, Contrex, McTag, Setanta, Roger, ..., even you, Beth.

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@PUNKEY,

Quote:

An "outfit" can be comprised of several pieces of garment. It's a common fashion term.

English only pages
"pieces of garment"
About 85,000 results

Not a small number of hits at all for such an uncommon potential.

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@WBYeats,

Quote:

If I found something like 'piece of garment' on/in (which one should I use?)

You've got to stop asking Contrex questions that are beyond him, WB. Smile

Which would you use for a book, 'on' or 'in'?

1 Reply

@contrex,

Quote:

Nobody says 'pieces of garment'.

"pieces of garment"
UK region only
About 25,600 results

The first and what seems to be the most common uses for this exact phrase are precisely what Punkey has describe/what Punkey described.

The first is in a patent - here, look for yourselves.

Patent US4467733 - Device for working the hem of tubular pieces of ...
www.google.co.uk/patents/US4467733‎
22 16 373, there is known a device including a rotatable dress form for slipping thereon pieces of garment to be worked. The axis of rotation of the dress form ...

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@JTT,

Q:Which would you use for a book, 'on' or 'in'?
A:IN, if about the content. But problems often comes up when something falls between two stools: when we talk about computer things, ON is almost always needed. So I was and am not sure. FACEBOOK is obviously a book, but I don't know any native speak using IN FACEBOOK.

Quote:
"pieces of garment"
UK region only
About 25,600 results

I know 'advanced search' on google, but after getting results from a particular region, I can't see the number of results. How did you do that?

1 Reply

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