A descriptive expression: tutto d'un pezzo

By Sigrid Lee

What is meant by tutto d'un pezzo? It's an expression we hear that describes someone.

Ferruccio, Ferruccio era un uomo tutto d'un pezzo.

Ferruccio, Ferruccio was a man of integrity.

Caption 15, Il Commissario Manara S2EP11 - Uno strano incidente di caccia - Part 3
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The short word, the contraction, is made of up di (of) and un (a or one).

Then we have tutto which can be a noun meaning "all" or "everything." It can also be an adverb or adjective meaning "all," "totally," or "entirely."

Then we have pezzo, a noun meaning "piece."

If we translate the expression literally, we obtain "all of a piece." It only partially makes sense. We can think of something whole, integral.

The expression traditionally describes a man, un uomo: un uomo tutto d'un pezzo. But of course, it could also be a woman!

The important thing is that this tutto d'un pezzo implies someone with integrity, a "straight shooter," to use an American expression, or "a person of integrity," "an honest and forthright person." We're primarily referring to the morals of a person.

The expression is usually positive. It might also describe a person who is "his own man," but not necessarily a good man.

Someone who is tutto d'un pezzo says what he means and means what he says. He doesn't compromise.

If we think of characters in Yabla videos, we might think of Adriano Olivetti, or Ispettore Lojacono from I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone. In fact, here is an exchange between Lojacono's new boss and a colleague of hers.

Senti, tu lo conosci l'Ispettore di Polizia che si chiama Giuseppe Lojacono? -Peppino Lojacono? E certo che lo conosco, figurati. È un poliziotto tutto d'un pezzo.

Listen, do you know the police detective whose name is Giuseppe Lojacono? -Peppino Lojacono? Of course I know him, are you kidding? He's a straight shooter of a policeman.

Captions 38-40, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP1 I Bastardi - Part 7
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Without opening a new chapter, we'll mention another word to describe a person of integrity. Here, the speaker has used the absolute superlative form of integro. The suffix -errimo comes from the Latin suffix "-errimus," used with adjectives that end in R., such as "integer" - integro (whole).

Elsa è una donna integerrima, ha dedicato tutta la vita a quel museo.

Elsa's a woman of the utmost integrity. She's dedicated her whole life to that museum.

Caption 4, Il Commissario Manara S1EP5 - Il Raggio Verde - Part 8
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Around the 21st century, people began using this suffix informally, and often jokingly, with all sorts of words to be even more superlative than an absolute superlative, ordinarily expressed with the suffix -issimo.

Officially, the suffix -errimo is used with a short list of adjectives.

acre (acrid, pungent) — acerrimo
celebre (renowned) — celeberrimo
integro (whole, of integrity) — integerrimo
misero (miserable, wretched) — miserrimo
salubre (salubrious, healthful, healthy, wholesome) — saluberrimo

Also, aspro (sour, tart) asperrimo (along with asprissimo)

Advanced learners might enjoy reading an article by the Accademia della Crusca about this suffix.

We might think tutto d'un pezzo could translate as "out of whole cloth" But we would be wrong. "Out of whole cloth" has a story, and has come to mean something similar to campato in aria. In other words, fabricated from nothing. Here is a short article.