Pear-shaped

A European pear, also known as the common pear.

Pear-shaped is a metaphorical term with several meanings, all in reference to the shape of a (European) pear, i.e. tapering towards the top.

Body shape[]

The comparison is more or less literal when the term is applied to people, where it means narrow at the shoulders and wide at the hips, a use that goes back to at least 1815,^[1] and one that can have either positive connotations (as in Venus figurines) or negative, depending upon the context.

Figure of the Earth[]

Since the 1960s when the greater polar flattening of the Antarctic region than of the Arctic region was confirmed, geodesists have regarded the Earth as being to a small degree pear-shaped.

Voice[]

In the 20th century, another, more abstract use of the term evolved. When said of someone's voice, "pear-shaped" means rich and sonorous.^[1] The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) dates this use to 1925.

Failure[]

The third meaning is mostly limited to the United Kingdom,^[1] also Ireland, South Africa and Australasia.^{[citation needed]} It describes a situation that has gone awry, perhaps horribly so. A failed bank robbery, for example, could be said to have "gone pear-shaped". The origin for this use of the term is in dispute. The OED cites its origin as within the Royal Air Force^[1] as a cleaned-up alternative version of its phrase "tits up" meaning completely broken or dead; as of 2018 the earliest citation is a quote in the 1983 book Air War South Atlantic.^[2]

Gallery[]

The pear-shaped fruit of the cashew
Pear-shaped-pear croustade
Pear-shaped jar from the Greek island Milos (formerly known as Melos)
Inflated party balloons
A typical lightbulb

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "pear-shaped". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^ Jeffrey L. Ethell, Alfred Price (1983). Air War South Atlantic. Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0-283-99035-X.

[oed-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "pear-shaped". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)

[2] Jeffrey L. Ethell, Alfred Price (1983). Air War South Atlantic. Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0-283-99035-X.

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