Playing sport and watching it

The fortieth entry is estar em forma, and the one after it, fora de forma, is the same word turned inside out. In Portuguese that pair does the whole job: está em forma como nunca esteve can be said of a runner whose times are falling and of somebody who has simply got fit again. English divides the ground between two nouns and minds the border between them. « Form » is how somebody is performing just now, and it is a passing thing: a striker is « on form » or « off form », a side « found its form » in March, and the word keeps fixed company — « a return to form », « a dip in form ». « Shape » is the body, and it moves slowly: a rower is « in shape » or « out of shape », and getting there costs weeks. So voltou fora de forma depois da lesão is « he came back out of shape », because an injury takes the fitness away, whereas a player who trained all summer and still cannot score is « off form » and in perfectly good shape. The one sentence that covers both, « he is not in great form », is vague on purpose.