Gone pear-shaped

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Meaning

Gone badly wrong or developed in an unintended and unsuccessful way. Informal. Usually applied to a situation, plan or performance rather than a person's body. Regional use: Chiefly United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Origin

The expression appears in British evidence from the 1960s and is commonly associated with Royal Air Force slang. Explanations based on a badly executed aerobatic loop are plausible but have not been demonstrated from contemporary records, so the visual step from pear shape to failure remains uncertain.

Variants

  • Go pear-shaped
  • Turn pear-shaped
  • Things went pear-shaped

Usage Examples

  • The launch went pear-shaped when the payment service stopped responding.
  • Everything turned pear-shaped after the caterer arrived at the wrong address.

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