To go pear-shaped means to go wrong; to fail completely; to produce an unexpected result.
Origin of Idiom “Go Pear-Shaped”
Although it may seem to be an allusion to a woman gaining weight on her hips, the idiom ‘go pear-shaped’ actually derived as Royal Air Force slang describing, in quite exaggerated terms, the shape of an aircraft that crashes in a nose-dive. The phrase is most often heard as ‘it all went pear-shaped.’
Movie Citations
“Captain, I think the crew, meaning me as well, were expecting something a bit more… shiny, with the Isla de Muerta going pear-shaped, reclaimed by the sea with the treasure. — Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
“Finn, my cover’s been compromised. Everything’s gone pear-shaped. You won’t believe what I found out here.” — Cars 2 (2011)
“You were always like a big old pillow. Like when everything went pear-shaped you never left my side. And then I just left you. — Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
Sentence Examples
“He got his restaurant open and it was doing well but it all went pear-shaped when he found out that he needed all new wiring and his walk-in refrigerator had to be replaced.”
“Yes, things have gone pear-shaped but we’ll get back on our feet. All we need is one good deal.”
“This project was supposed to be finished by the end of December but with the new lawsuit environmental impact survey, the whole thing has gone pear-shaped.”
Similar and Related Expressions
- Go Haywire: to work or behave in a crazy or disorderly way with bad results; to be out of control.
- Go Down in Flames: to end or fail and perhaps spectacularly.
- Go Belly Up: to fail completely; to go bankrupt; Of a plan or situation: to not go as intended.
- Fall Flat: to completely fail or to fail to achieve the results expected or desired; to be ineffective; to cause no amusement or interest.
- Go to hell/hell in a handbasket: to deteriorate; to degenerate; to turn to chaos and begin to fail completely.
- Go Up in Smoke: Literally, to be destroyed by fire. Figuratively, of a plan or ambition, to fail to come to fruition; to achieve nothing.
- Go Over Like a Lead Balloon: to fail to impress or amuse people; to not be accepted or well-received.
- Go to Pot: to deteriorate or decline due to neglect.