I came across the phrase “pear-shaped” twice today in non-body-shape related usages, rather, it was used to describe situations gone bad (e.g. “I thought the date was going well, but when I saw her standing at the urinal next to me the whole thing went pear-shaped.”).

Wikipedia provides the explanation:

The third meaning is mostly limited to the United Kingdom and Australasia. It describes a situation that went awry, perhaps horribly wrong. A failed bank robbery, for example, could be said to have “gone pear-shaped”. Less well known in the US it generated some media interest when British politician Margaret Thatcher used the phrase in front of the world’s press at one of her first meetings with President Ronald Reagan, with many reporters being unsure of the meaning of the term.

No definitive origin is listed, possibilities include the shape resulting when a pilot fails to execute a perfect loop in an aircraft, worn metal bearings, and glass blowing.

Also, one’s voice can also be described as pear-shaped, if it’s particularly “rich and sonorous”.

# 2008 Aug 21