Start with the fruit, and with the right fruit: the western , small and narrow at the neck, heavy and round at the base. Light on top, weight below. That outline is the whole word. Lay it on an object and you have a vase or an egg. Lay it on a body and you have weight sitting at the hips rather than the middle. Lay it on a sound and you have a note that is round and full rather than thin. And in one fixed British phrase, something that was standing up straight sags at the bottom — a plan goes -shaped.

先從水果開始,而且要是對的那種水果:西洋梨,脖子細小,底部圓而沉。上面輕,下面重。這個輪廓就是整個字。把它放在物件上,就是花瓶或鳥蛋。放在身體上,就是重量長在臀部而不是腰腹。放在聲音上,就是圓潤飽滿、而不單薄的音色。而在一個固定的英式片語裡,本來站得直挺挺的東西底下垮了出來——一個計畫 goes pear-shaped。最後這一條只是幫助記憶的想法,資料並沒有說明這個片語是怎麼來的。

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。