maneuver/manoeuvre, figurine, three-point turn, ‘Extraordinary Measures’ , pear-shaped,

How ‘Extraordinary Measures’ Can Postpone a Debt Limit Disaster

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will soon need to use accounting maneuvers to keep the United States from defaulting on its debt.

One street. One large car. One VERY skilful manoeuvre. 

US President Obama's 'Beast' does a three-point turn

BBC

.IN

Best of Gadgetwise

Cute Androids From a 3-D Printer

By ROY FURCHGOTT

3D Systems is using its 3-D printer technology to let people create their own variations on the popular Android green robot character and to print them out as figurines.

當你達到倫敦機場時，你無意中聽到別人說他們的旅途"went all pear-shaped" 。他們在說什麼呢？ ...




IN BRIEF: adj. - (of sounds) full and rich; Having a round form tapered at one end.
Pear-shaped is a metaphorical term with several meanings, all in reference to the shape of a pear, i.e. tapering towards the top and rounded at the bottom.
The oldest usage from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the most literal, a 1731 reference in a gardening dictionary by horticulturist Alan Van Dyke comparing the shape of the fruits of the cashew and avocado to that of a pear.
The comparison is less literal when the term is applied to people, where it means wide at the hips, a use that goes back to at least 1815, and one that can have either positive connotations (as in Venus figurines) or negative, depending upon the context.
In the 20th century, another, more abstract use of the term evolved. When said of someone's voice, "pear-shaped" means rich and sonorous. The OED dates this use to 1925.
The third meaning is mostly limited to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australasia. It describes a situation that went awry, perhaps horribly wrong. A failed bank robbery, for example, could be said to have "gone pear-shaped". Less well known in the US it generated some media interest when British politician Margaret Thatcher used the phrase^{[citation needed]} in front of the world's press at one of her first meetings with President Ronald Reagan, with many reporters being unsure of the meaning of the term.
The origin for this use of the term is in dispute. The OED cites its origin as within the Royal Air Force; as of 2003 the earliest citation there is a quote in the 1983 book Air War South Atlantic (ISBN 0-283-99035-X). Others date it to the RAF in the 1940s, from pilots attempting to perform aerial manoeuvres such as loops. These are difficult to form perfectly, and are usually noticeably distorted—i.e., pear-shaped.

A Textbook manoeuvre

maneuver[ma・neu・ver]

• 発音記号[mənúːvər]

[名]

1 （軍隊・軍艦などの）作戦行動, 機動作戦, 戦術的展開；((〜s))大演習, 機動演習

carry out large-scale maneuvers
大演習を行う

on maneuvers
演習（中）で.

2 巧妙な手段, 妙計, 策略, 術策(trick).

━━[動](他)

1 〈軍隊・軍艦などを〉動かす, 移動させる；…を演習させる.

2 …を策略で動かす［操縦する］；…を（策略で）うまく（…）させる((into ...))

maneuver a person into confessing
まんまと人に白状させる

maneuver a conversation
巧みに会話を進める.

3 …を巧みに扱う, さばく, あやつる, うまく動かす

I maneuvered the car into ［out of］ the garage.
車をうまく車庫入れした［車庫から出した］.

━━(自)

1 〈軍隊・軍艦などが〉機動する, 戦術的展開をする, 演習する.

2 策動する, たくらむ, 巧みに処理する

maneuver for advantage
甘い汁を吸おうと策を巡らす.

［フランス語←ラテン語manūoperāre （manus手＋operāre仕事する＝手で仕事する）. △OPERATE, MANUS］

ma・neu・ver・a・ble

[形]移動しやすい.

ma・nèu・ver・a・bíl・i・ty

[名]操縦性.

ma・neu・ver・er

[名]

figurine[fig・u・rine][fìgjuríːn | –]

• 
  

[名]小立像.

［フランス語←イタリア語figurina（figura「像」の縮小形）. △FIGURE］