What does it mean when someone says, "He's a piece of work."?

Question

I think it means something derogatory and I've heard people say it a lot, but I'm unclear as to what it truly means.
Can you explain? Thanks!

Answer 1

It's not a compliment! Like if someone acts like a ***hole someone will make a comment like this. "He's a real piece of work". You got the right idea, it's not good thing.

Answer 2

It can be used to mean that person is a unique individual, but it has taken on a slightly derogatory connotation.
Linguists theorize that the saying comes from a (positive and complimentary) comment once made by Leonardo da Vinci: "What a piece of work is man!"

Answer 3

It is talking about how when something breaks, someone is there to "pick up the pieces" in order to salvage said broken thing. In this case you were the thing that was damaged by the break up and Jim was there to pick you up (cheer you up) and make you better again.

Answer 4

It's not usually complimentary, and covers a wide range of personality or character traits. It's a term that denotes someone who is not considered the "norm" ... not always a bad thing, in my opinion.

I bow in humility to "sand"'s answer. He seems to have found the true meaning of the term.

Answer 5

It means someone is a jaskass

Answer 6

Let's just say that it is not normally a compliment. As near a translation, "he is an @$$ hole." will come as close as anything.

Answer 7

ive only heard hes a piece ofshit sorry cant help

Answer 8

I always think it means "He's a difficult person...."

Answer 9

It is like saying, "Oh, he's a character."