Hold your piece oe hold your peace

[JamesFreed]

I am trying to find the origin for this expression and the correct key word. Is it piece, as in "speak your mind" or peace, as in "don't start a war?" Anyone know the origin?

[Tdol]

They both exist: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/hold.html

[Frisky070802]

Note: I am not a teacher...

That link doesn't say they are equivalent at all. It says you hold your peace but *speak* your piece.

[susiedqq]

That's because they are not the same.

Hold your peace means to keep cool, wait,

Speak your piece means to speak your "piece of mind", which is to speak whatever is on your mind (say what you think).

[rtb]

I'm also not a teacher, but I do a great deal of writing in my line of work and this phrase always bothers me.

If I see "hold your piece," my editorial response back to them is "hold my piece of what?" It sounds like an unfinished thought, whereas "hold your peace" derives from the "speak now or forever hold your peace" heard in wedding services.

I'm also troubled by the phrase "speak your piece," which is commonly accepted to mean "speak aloud a piece of writing." I think it's more correct to use "speak your peace," with peace referring to "peace of mind." If I see "speak your piece of mind," I need to know to what piece of mind are we referring: the frontal lobe, hippocampus, the medulla oblongata?

But each day is an opportunity to learn, so what am I missing?