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Newguest Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary

Gone pear-shaped/worked that out

Hi

One guy was talking on the phone to another guy.

He proceeded to tell me how his eating habits had gone pear-shaped (or burger-shaped) because of his son.

I asked him how on earth he worked that out.

His reply was one I'd heard a few times. "Well, he loves McDonald's and I have to take him in there. And you know once you're in there ..."

-- Does it mean that because of his eating he started to look like a pear (or a burger)?

--- What is the meaning of "work out" above? I would say it means "how on earth did it happen?"
  

Top answer

"go pear-shaped" is a set expression meaning go wrong, go bad. "or burger-shaped" is the writer's little wordplay. "how he worked that out" means how he determined/decided that his son was to blame for his poor eating habits.

— GPY

  • "go pear-shaped" is a set expression meaning go wrong, go bad.
  • "or burger-shaped" is the writer's little wordplay.
  • "how he worked that out" means how he determined/decided that his son was to blame for his poor eating habits.
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1 Answers
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"go pear-shaped" is a set expression meaning go wrong, go bad. "or burger-shaped" is the writer's little wordplay.

"how he worked that out" means how he determined/decided that his son was to blame for his poor eating habits.
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