Expressions with the word SHAPE

You must have already heard of the word shape. It's pretty common. And if you frequent a gym, you're even more into what I'm talking about. If you look it up on a dictionary, you'll see something like "the quality of a distinct object or body". Truth is, the word shape immediately reminds us of a perfect body, the ones you generally watch on commercials and the like. But the word shape alone is neutral, it doesn't tell us if the shape of a certain body is good or bad. To do so, you'd have to say Tom's in good shape, or Sally's in bad shape. But there's more. Let's dive right into it a little bit further!

Actually, not only can human bodies be in a good or bad shape. In order to say your car for example is functionally sound and sturdy, you can say your car is in good shape too. As for humans, there are many reasons for someone not to be in good shape. Maybe Tom doesn't exercise and that makes him be in bad shape. But a little accident could also have made him be in bad shape. You see? Whatever the way Tom's injured or delibitated, he's in bad shape the same way. Let's move on to our next expression with the word shape!

When something's in bad shape, what do you do? You try to fix it right? Let's imagine your house's in bad shape. It's dirty and messy. You want to clean and organize it immediaely because you need to put it on rent until tomorrow. So someone tells you: Please lick this house into shape so it will be easier to rent it tomorrow. To lick something into shape means to put something into good condition, possibly with considerate effort. Note you can also use that expression with people.