h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Pears - A1034696
Author: John Surname - U226092

I spent around four nights writing this short piece on pears. Please bear in mind that I do not take kindly to 'constructive critisism'.

Hmmmm.... Do you mind if I ask, then, if you don't take kindly to constructive criticism, why you submitted something to Peer Review? Given that constuctive criticism is really what Peer Review is all about?

Just wondering.

darn. I thought it was going to be about soap.

Me too. I was thinking "1940s land-girls soaping themselves up in the drinking trough."

Anyway. The first sentence implies to me that the colour greeny-grey is shaped like a bell. Moreover, I don't beleive that it is commonly accepted that pears are the second most annoying fruit. Where did you get the idea that Status Quo is/are a rock-group?

Otherwise I like its quirkiness.

Not enough information about pears though. Where do they grow, how do they grow, since when do they grow, and aren't there varieties that aren't grey/green?

Pears > Perry (low-rent champagne). Babycham.

Hey... *I'll* have a Babycham!

*Refrains from making constructive criticism at the author's request*

Destruct then?

But that wouldn't be very 'fluffy' would it

What Naita said. Needs more about the fruit, basically.

Sprout

You've got pears, pairs and Paris - how about pares? Can you pare a pear?

Primus inter pares.

Pear drops (amyl acetate).

How about the alligator pear, aka the avocado pear? Did you know that both these names come from the Spanish word 'aguacate', which is a corruption of the Nahuatl word 'ahuacatl'. 'Ahuacatl' means testicle, the fruit being so called because of its shape.

Then there's the Warden pear, thought to be named after a place called Warden in England, but actually comes from an old French word for 'keeping', because it keeps well.

The William pear, as it is called in the UK ('Bon Chretien' in France), is known in the US as the Bartlett.

Or the soap.

I'm forever blowing bubbles ...

Thanks to everyone. I only put that bit about 'constructive critisism' to avoid getting ripped to pieces - this is the first thing i've ever put on the site. Part of the reason I put it up on here was to make sure that i wasn't totally barking up the wrong tree.

I'd guess that Bels knows a lot more about pears than I do and would probably do it a lot more justice than I could.

At least one good thing came out of this: should we have a survey of everyone's least favourite fruit?

Thanks again

John Surname

Well posted Mr surname. Brave move. Agree with the 'like its quirkiness comment'. Most hated fruits eh?
Mango ...the stringy kind
favourite fruit
Mango...the non stringy kind or is that stringey never could spell.
Take care and fill in your pear..sonal space!
boots

I'll tell you one thing, John. You've got a lot more posts here than I've had for one I put in Peer Review yesterday. By the way, that's A975170 Titivillus, the Typo Demon.

I'd rather have 'constructive criticism' than the silent treatment...

I think

Well, this isn't ripping it to shreds, but I'm afraid it *is* constructive criticism.

While the quirkiness is a nice touch, I (personally) think the entry needs more actual, factual, researched content about pears. I'm not saying to get rid of the quirkiness, I'm just saying to fill in some content around the quirkiness. You know, info on how and where pears are grown, or maybe on how they are eaten (besides just chomping into them, do people make them into pies and tarts like they do with other fruits?) How popular are they compared to other fruit? And with this, I mean with actual, researched numbers, not just with your own opinion that they're the 2nd least favorite fruit or whatever.

Quirkiness is fun, but quirkiness plus substance is even better. At least in my book.


Mikey

Hey, Bels, that was my fun etymological fact! (the avocado bit) So, through the same corruption of the Nahautl, Guacamole actually means "testicle sauce". (it really caused a stir over on the Guacamole thread)

(I don't really claim ownership of that etymological fact)

If you're not planning on doing anything more with this entry John, and since it's not likely to be recommended for editing without more work, would you be so kind as to remove it from Peer Review?


Scout

Surname, hopy you're not abroad as an au paire...



er, well, should we try to collect a pair of Scouts?

Hmmm... it's only two weeks since John's last post and he is still subscribed to this thread.


Scout