Oh look, it’s another trio of words that are frequently mixed up: pair, pare, and pear. Let’s sort this out:
Pair:
A pair of Jacks. (Yahoo Images)
Pair means two of something — a pair of gloves, for example — or two parts that create a whole — a pair of trousers.
Pare:
I probably should pare down my shoes. (Yahoo Images)
To pare means to cut away or remove or cut down.
Pear:
I hope this is self-explanatory. (Yahoo Images)
A pear, of course, is the fruit from a pear tree or the tree itself.
I’d like to pare down my pear-shaped body so I can fit in a pair of jeans.
I remember “pare a pear with a pair of scissors” from school. (They had just invented school.)
I wish there was a like button for your commenters, too!
Seriously, do they not teach these things in school anymore? I am constantly appalled by the lack of common knowledge displayed on facebook when it comes to grammar and the English language.