etymology






 

Question by  rajesh23 (4)

Have you ever heard the phrase "everything went pear shaped"?

What does it mean? Where did it come from?

 
+8

Answer by  stiners (221)

It is a British phrase that is used when things go wrong. It may have originated from the Royal Air Force as pilots did acrobatics with their planes. If it was not executed correctly, instead of doing circles, the planes would do distorted loops that looked pear shaped.

 
+5

Answer by  morella (79)

"Everything went pear shaped" is a British slang expression meaning everything went wrong. It was originally used in the Royal Air Force and was first used in the 1980s.

 
+3

Answer by  Chem (41)

I've mostly heard the phrase used by British people, and it means "things went wrong". The American equivalent would be "things went South/went downhill".

 
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