|
|
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
This thread has gone a bit pear-shaped. In fact, I'd say it's lost the plot altogether.....  But we are amused. 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear MG: Does getting pear-shaped mean fat-arsed? Reminds me of the guy who called his girl Crisco, because she was fat in the can. He also said she sagged, but didn't give.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
pear shaped I believe the word is pyriform. [not in wwftd, but in Grandiloquent Dictionary]
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
Hmmm....Hadn't heard of "pear-shaped" meaning "fat-arsed"....! Think it refers rather to the wobbly shape a pear has - which may well match some bottoms. "Wobbly" is another good one, actually....it's how my British cousin, living in La Belgique, refers to bad driving: eg, "Stop wobbling about in my blind spot, woman!" Are you sure the bloke said his girlfriend was "sagged"? Just because "shag" is my most favourite British slang word. Although....I must confess a liking for slagging people off (but only when they shag with my head and make my life go pear-shaped so I lose the plot).....  Right, it's getting late - I'm off to bedfordshire... :o)))))))))
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Quinion and a couple other sites say "pear-shaped" referred to difficulty in flying a perfect circular loop, and was extended to mean other problems getting out of control. Doesn't appeal to me.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 96
journeyman
|
|
journeyman
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 96 |
you would say "It's all gone pear-shaped" when things go wrong it is Southern saying that through TV etc. has spread around the country
"We'd robbed the bank and everything was going great , it all went pear-shaped when the getaway car would'nt start."
the Duncster
the Duncster
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
From whence cometh the charming acronym OTT (for Over The Top)? I like that one....
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
"From whence"???
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Online Webster's:
From whence, though a pleonasm, is fully authorized by the use of good writers.
And Atomica:
USAGE NOTE The construction from whence has been criticized as redundant since the 18th century. It is true that whence incorporates the sense of from: a remote village, whence little news reached the wider world. But from whence has been used steadily by reputable writers since the 14th century, most notably in the King James Bible: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help” (Psalms). Such a respectable precedent makes it difficult to label the construction as incorrect. Still, it may be observed that whence (like thence) is most often used nowadays to impart an archaic or highly formal tone to a passage, and that this effect is probably better realized if the archaic syntax of the word—without from—is preserved as well.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
Bean, thanks! It's good to learn something new. [  ]
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,317
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
583
guests, and
1
robot. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
