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

Here is one, which probably won't be in your book; Pear shaped, as in, it's all gone a bit pear shaped, used when things are not going according to plan. Where on earth did this one come from?

Wandrin'star

Why don't you treat us to a juicy excerpt from your new book?

Pear shaped is a potters expression, I think/recall.

When you are building up the sides of a pot using a wheel, if you get it too fast the lower part of the pot will bulge out due to centrifugal force and the pot will then be beyond saving and you'll need to start again.

I always thought pear-shaped referred to the way one's figure changes as one gets older as the hips get much wider than the bust and the waist thickens, but seemingly it's got nothing to do with that. Does glass-blowing sound right? If it goes wrong it ends up pear-shaped??

Foggy doo - nickname for non-native resident of Devon
Fogle - a silk handkerchief
Fondle- handle or touch (Sign on table of chinaware at county show (fair) "Please do not fondle") I think Margaret's misunderstoof that one slightly
Fool - a dessert of fruit and whipped cream
Foolscap - a size of paper 12 & a half x 17 inches

HTH

Case of simultaneous posting by the Jones family there.

Well, fondle does mean handle or touch. I just don't think she got the context right. Also, I remember having Foolscap paper at school, and I ain't that old!

Dog: ugly woman or worn out car, ie 'she's a dog (or a mutt)' and when pointing to clapped out jalopy, 'its a dog'.

'Dog's bollocks' is 'good', think of it as a variation on the 'bees knees'.

Perhaps one of the problems with a long thread is that people read the first bit, then jump in with a response, without checking the 200+ postings in the thread that followed!

I now consider myself an expert on all things language to do with dogs, bees, testicles,...

I see - do you even know the "Jackals tackle" variants?

So what else do you need to know about the English language (as opposed to that spoken elsewhere).

nice one Phil

_Isn't _this a lovely long thread? and so much easier to navigate than it was a fortnight ago.
[My best American friend didn't know what "foolscap" or "fortnight" were when we first met].
Here are some more drops from Margaret's list that she hadn't come across before:
drop a brick
drophead
Don't drop on me - it's not my fault.
Do you think he's dropped you're a cop?
Drop someone in the cart

What type of phrases would you like to discuss?

Whats a drophead then?

You really are making this up as you go along, boys.;-p

Jackal's tackle?! Oh yeah...

Who are you calling a boy?
A drophead's a type of sports car.

Foolscap is a lovely old word, and the etymology is nice too. This particular kind of paper (I'm not sure why), when it was originally made (it says 1795 in my dictionary), would be pressed with a watermark in the design of a fool's cap to distinguish it from other kinds of paper. Hence, not surprisingly, it came to be known as 'foolscap' paper. Silly but true...

Ah yes - as in E-Type Jaguar Drophead Coupé...a car that has been cut twice, apparently

Cut with what? And does it make it more addictive?

Drophead = soft top, Coupé breing French for cut...hence the silly comment before. And yes - it would be even more addictive. Especially with period whitewalls and number plates....

But I digress.
What about "drop dead gorgeous"?
"drop a clanger"?
"drop an egg"?

Also - on dogs and their bits...
The whippet's tappets? (OK - I made that one up )

"Drop dead gorgeous" and "Jaguar" belong together in the same sentence. The Brits can justify their continued existence as a world power purely on their contribution of this most beautiful of cars. Now that really is the dog's!