Word of the Day: Pear-shaped

[lissa_dora]

This is one I'd read in Terry Pratchett novels and managed to pick up from context, but had never heard nor seen out of a Pratchett novel before.

the worthless word for the day is: (to go) pear-shaped

[fr. earlier senses, shaped like a pear; rich, mellow]
chiefly Brit. colloq. : to go badly wrong, to go awry

""Because as you well know, Wieldy, the last time I
asked them for help, things went a bit pear-shaped. ""
- Reginald Hill, Dialogues of the Dead (2002)

"Everything went pear shaped, then banana shaped, then
no shape at all. Then I seemed to be drifting in and
out of these weird dreams."
- Reginald Hill, Good Morning Midnight (2004)

http://home. comcast.net/ ~wwftd