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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Things going pear shaped ??
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 09/16/2004 11:14:43 AM · #1
I have heard this expression used by British folks several times and I think it means that things are not going well, but I really don't know. Can someone fill me in on exactly what this expression refers to and, if possible, some insight into its origin.

Thanks

P.S. I hope it is not considered vulgar
 09/16/2004 11:20:38 AM · #2
That's what it sounds like it means from the google search I did. Also, from what I found it can be used in any context where things go wrong. I got references from divorce to soccer.
 09/16/2004 11:21:35 AM · #3
It means things started well but are now getting worse.

I have no idea where it comes from but I imagine it's something like the good is the thin part at the top of the pear, then as time goes by it gets worse and worse, at the part where the pear gets fatter at the bottom. That's probably totally wrong tho. Maybe it's meant to look like an apple but its going wrong, like a pear is a deformed apple, or something? Also, women don't like to be 'pear shaped' so maybe it comes from that? No idea at all really, lol.
 09/16/2004 11:24:16 AM · #4
Link - trying to explain
 09/16/2004 11:28:43 AM · #5
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Can someone fill me in on exactly what this expression refers to and, if possible, some insight into its origin.


I believe it refers to my physique. :(

Dave
 09/16/2004 11:35:41 AM · #6
Originally posted by xion:
Link - trying to explain

That's hilarious! Is The Bill even set in the East End?
The phrase has been in common usage in England for as long as I can remember, and I'm not Cockney :P

This link offers another view ... more upper class twits with handlebar moustaches than pearly queens.
 09/16/2004 11:41:06 AM · #7
I thought the same thing bod! I doubt The Bill coined the phrase :P
 09/16/2004 12:02:06 PM · #8
Yep. Almost all the websites have the same explanation as bod posted.
"To go pear shaped is an expression used to indicate that a scheme has not been perfectly executed. The phrase seems to have originated in British English in the late 1940s or early 1950s. I have come across several suggested origins, but the best, for me, is related to training aircraft pilots. At some stage they are encouraged to try to fly loops - very difficult to make perfectly circular; often the trainee pilot's loops would go pear shaped."
source: //www.phrases.org.uk/
 09/16/2004 12:05:10 PM · #9
A different explanation here.
 09/16/2004 12:24:53 PM · #10
For me, it resembles the perfect shape of a large woman.

So when things go 'pear-shaped' then it means that they are going wrong, this is due to the simple fact that my mind has drifted onto much finer things and the task in hand is totally neglected :)

Darren

edit: typo/grammer

Message edited by author 2004-09-16 12:26:51.
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