tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post5102739503914413296..comments2023-11-27T02:17:22.859-06:00Comments on The LawDog Files: Pear-shapedLawDoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05232684877582591461noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-38646710365340380162017-02-19T23:14:18.799-06:002017-02-19T23:14:18.799-06:00Just re-reading this blog;
"Pear Shaped"...Just re-reading this blog;<br /><br />"Pear Shaped" is one of those idioms that scholars admit is of no known origin. All kinds of possibilities are offered.<br /><br />But it seems clear to me that "Biblically Pear Shaped" is "Pear Shaped" being given the full Cecil B. DeMille treatment.C. S. P. Schofieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18307088118631856756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-53321563038244066942008-06-24T07:54:00.000-05:002008-06-24T07:54:00.000-05:00No idea about 'pear shaped'. But I do seem to reme...No idea about 'pear shaped'. But I do seem to remember Pratchette using the phrase 'wahooni shaped' in one of his Discworld novels.<BR/><BR/>I've always liked the sound of that phrase...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-82725207069402269322008-06-24T07:19:00.000-05:002008-06-24T07:19:00.000-05:00Jeez, so many theories! I always thought it was a ...Jeez, so many theories! I always thought it was a pottery-relayed term. For ex.: "Hey, guys, look at the lovely jug I just ma... Oh, hell, it's gone all pear-shaped!"<BR/><BR/>No? Some form of slump-test for building materials? <BR/><BR/>I give up.<BR/><BR/>LCDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-81923599052165968442008-06-23T18:53:00.000-05:002008-06-23T18:53:00.000-05:00I seem to recall my first reference to it being in...I seem to recall my first reference to it being in a Heinlein story, but don't recall which one (unfortunately). The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, or perhaps The Number Of The Beast.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17128209683882251802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-28187428349493602162008-06-23T16:46:00.000-05:002008-06-23T16:46:00.000-05:00I always thought the name came from the shape a dr...I always thought the name came from the shape a drop of water took, just before it seperated from whatever it was dripping from and started to fall: therefore "the moment before the thing went irrevocably towards the ground", or such.<BR/><BR/>DaveP.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-39752370737182351582008-06-23T16:27:00.000-05:002008-06-23T16:27:00.000-05:00I do believe that pear-shaped comes from filled tr...I do believe that pear-shaped comes from filled trousers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-2379095746115010442008-06-23T14:43:00.000-05:002008-06-23T14:43:00.000-05:00In a machine shop, "going pear-shaped" is a conseq...In a machine shop, "going pear-shaped" is a consequence of not paying sufficient attention to what you're doing.<BR/><BR/>A 3-jaw chuck on a lathe is self-centering. Round objects placed in there tend to stay that way. Usually, anyway...<BR/><BR/>You can misthread a chuck jaw when reversing faces, or allow chips, floor-dry pellets or apprentice's fingers to get in between the jaw face and the workpiece, and before you can say "Boo", your $80 piece of Inconel bar stock has gone OOR. Out-of-round, or, slightly pear shaped.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes it's recoverable, sometimes not. It depends on how much metal you're hogging off the rough stock.<BR/><BR/>So, FWIW, that's where I first heard the term.El Capitanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13166884584708996911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-67587035233731716532008-06-23T13:13:00.000-05:002008-06-23T13:13:00.000-05:00I always figured it had origins in the good old to...I always figured it had origins in the good old torture device, The Pear"<BR/><BR/>http://www.occasionalhell.com/infdevice/detail.php?recordID=Pear%20of%20AnguishRorschachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11848860674369931761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-15144955120833573892008-06-23T12:24:00.000-05:002008-06-23T12:24:00.000-05:00I always figured it was a polite way of saying tha...I always figured it was a polite way of saying that something's gone "tits up," like a corpse lying on its back.HokiePundithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03649933279845677962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-52745255694056064532008-06-23T12:06:00.000-05:002008-06-23T12:06:00.000-05:00I once trained with the SAS for 6weeks. By the end...I once trained with the SAS for 6weeks. By the end of the first day, I was so exhausted I ran on remote control forthe restofthe session. However, I do remember having that expression explained to me.<BR/><BR/>An airplane is shaped like a cross. That is to remind you to pray for the entire time it is off the ground. If the pilot should attempt to fly the plane at too low an altitude, that plane becomes shaped like a pear, to give notice that you are now food. Bugs and worms have to eat, too. :D<BR/><BR/>PopsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-82520073407958638722008-06-23T12:01:00.000-05:002008-06-23T12:01:00.000-05:00And I thought it was more of a George III phrase. ...And I thought it was more of a George III phrase. :-)Rogue Medichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07598646309630074992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22957834.post-30031322360481510992008-06-23T11:54:00.000-05:002008-06-23T11:54:00.000-05:00Also over here in the UK it means a womans shape i...Also over here in the UK it means a womans shape in that she is wide in the hips and smaller up top.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com