Jay: I have left most of my Britishisms behind & am studying to master the

use of “gotten.” There is one British idiom, however, that I like a lot:

“pear-shaped.” As in: “Indonesia looks as though it’s about to go

pear-shaped.” I have heard three or four suggested etymologies for this.

The one I like best (though it is no more probable than the others) is from

ballooning (or sometimes, depending on who’s talking, from the so-called

“barrage balloons” used during the Blitz in WW2). If your balloon goes

pear-shaped, you’re in trouble….