Pear Shaped

[jrbarnett]

The phrase "Going Pear Shaped" means "To go wrong, fail, stop working or break" in my understanding. Does anybody have any idea as to the source of this?

I can't see anything wrong with the shape of a pear.

John

 

[Stella740pl]

Hm. From all the explanations present, there is no consensus on the source of the expression, but they all seem to agree, to a some degree, on the explanation, offered by KenCunningham in the very first answer in this thread: "I haven't Googled or anything, but it's possible derivation is something that breaks the 'perfection' represented by a circle perhaps?

 

[Ladyazh]

You guys and girls confusing Pear shape with went/gone/ pear-shaped. I think it is not a same thing.
And I can see easily making a woman figurine doll from a pear. Not for a medical study though...

 

[Stella740pl]

You guys and girls confusing Pear shape with went/gone/ pear-shaped. I think it is not a same thing.

We are not.

And of course it is not the same thing, even though it sounds and spells exactly the same, whether it is pear-shaped body or the things that gone pear-shaped.

But, if you scroll up, you might notice that the OP wat asking about the things that are "going pear-shaped", or, rather, about the source/history of such an expression.

And, as a matter of fact, you were one of the first, right after rjoubert, to switch the topic to the body or other things shaped like a pear.

So, since the topic went two ways, some of us selected one of them, and some answered both.

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> So, since the topic went two ways, some of us selected one of them, and some answered both.

In that case, I suggest that we pare this thread and create a pair of threads.

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[Stella740pl]

CC,
It doesn't seem easy to separate them now.
And it doesn't look like much more will be added to what has already been said on either one.

 

[BJCooperIT]

CC,
Perhaps a "pear" of threads?

^{Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw}
Consultant Developer/Analyst Oracle, Forms, Reports & PL/SQL (Windows)
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[Ladyazh]

I think it was a joke, Stella.

 

[rjoubert]

No!!! Nobody EVER jokes in this forum! And no one EVER veers off topic in this forum either.

 

[AnotherHiggins]

You guys and girls confusing Pear shape with went/gone/ pear-shaped. I think it is not a same thing.
And I can see easily making a woman figurine doll from a pear. Not for a medical study though...

I really don't want to offend any pear-shaped people out there, but calling a woman "pear-shaped", at least in the US, will not be taken as a compliment, even if it is a natural body shape for women.

As Stella pointed out, an "hourglass" figure is how you can describe a full-figured woman. Other pleasing descriptions might include curvy, voluptuous or, dare I say, Rubenesque. Pear shape indicates someone with much wider hips than chest/shoulders.

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[Stella740pl]

I think it was a joke, Stella.
Which one are you talking about?

 

[Ladyazh]

This one, Stella:
CajunCenturion (Programmer) 12 Oct 06 14:12
==> So, since the topic went two ways, some of us selected one of them, and some answered both.

In that case, I suggest that we pare this thread and create a pair of threads.
***********************************************
Stella740pl (Programmer) 12 Oct 06 14:17

CC,
It doesn't seem easy to separate them now.
And it doesn't look like much more will be added to what has already been said on either one.
**************************************************
Ladyazh (Programmer) 12 Oct 06 14:35
I think it was a joke, Stella.

 

[SilentAiche]

No!!! Nobody EVER jokes in this forum! And no one EVER veers off topic in this forum either.

Er, allow me to introduce myselfs... (and all the other nuts hereabout!)

Tim

Back on topic: "Pier-shaped" refers to the shape of a long wooden dock stuck into the Ocean from a shore thing. At the end of the dock are waves of pleasure, which rather begs the question of how anyone could ever be "surf-bored."

I'm sorry, what was the question?

)

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[Stella740pl]

anotherhiggins,
calling a woman "pear-shaped", at least in the US, will not be taken as a compliment
I agree.

...an "hourglass" figure is how you can describe a full-figured woman.
Not really. I wouldn't say that an "hourglass" figure is the same as a fuller figure, and it is not a synonym of ". The definition of it is "having a notably slim or narrow waist". Even a very thin supermodel can have an hourglass figure, unlike a "stick" figure, or something to that effect.

Other pleasing descriptions might include curvy, voluptuous or, dare I say, Rubenesque.
I can agree with the two of three. Even though "voluptuous" nowadays is a much more pleasing description than "Rubenesque", but both describe a fuller female figure. Curvy may be full or not, but it is a pleasing description - and yes, it does get used often to describe a fuller figure - but not always only a fuller figure.


Ladyazh,
And I can see easily making a woman figurine doll from a pear
Yes, so can I, but if you tell a friend of yours that you made a sculpture of her and show here that figurine, would she feel flattered? ;-) If not, then "pear-shaped figure" is not a compliment.

As for the joke - I wouldn't bet on it, but I don’t think so. CC is an owner/moderator of this forum, and I don't remember him joking on things like that. As far as I can remember, if he says "Start a new thread for this", he means it. I retain a right to be occasionally wrong, though.