Why do we say something has gone 'pear-shaped' when it goes wrong?

Answer 1

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. There are several suggested origins but the most likely seems to relate 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.

Answer 2

Pear Shaped Saying

Answer 3

Good question! I've had a peep on the web and this is one idea: 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. 1 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. x

Answer 4

So many of the mysteries of the English language involve very old words and phrases that it is almost refreshing to meet a puzzle of more recent vintage, "pear-shaped" having first appeared in common usage, as far as is known, in the 1960s. Primarily a British phrase, "to go pear-shaped," means "to go wrong, to fall apart, to get out of control or to fail." One might say, for instance, that the business plans of many "dot com" companies "went pear-shaped" when customers failed to materialize.

As I said, the origin of "to go pear-shaped" is uncertain, but there are, as usual, several theories. The human body, as it ages, tends to acquire a bottom-heavy shape similar to a pear, perhaps giving us "pear-shaped" as another way of saying "things fall apart." A poster to the American Dialect Society mailing list a few years ago reported a theory that ties the phrase to ship construction in the 1950s using hot rivets. If the rivets were allowed to cool, they assumed a "pear" shape and were unusable.

But probably the most believable explanation yet proposed is the one you've heard and ties the phrase to the Royal Air Force, where learning to fly apparently includes doing acrobatic loops. Difficult for even an experienced pilot, these loops as performed by a novice are more than likely to appear lopsided and "pear-shaped." One can imagine observers on the ground saying, "Good. Good. Oh rats, he's gone all pear-shaped."

Answer 5

New one?! It's been around for ages in Britain.

There are many theories on how this phrase came into being, but there is no definitive explaination.

One theory is that it came from Royal Air Force slang, when stunt pilots practiced lopp-the-loops. If it went wrong, the loop would take the shape of a pear, thus things go wrong, go 'pear- shaped.'

It could also be linked to the fact that a pear-shaped figure is undesirable.

Answer 6

I am getting along in years but I have never heard that something has gone "pear-shaped."

Answer 7

It's mostly limited to the United Kingdom and Australia and is used to desribe something going wrong.

Has something to do with a thing being *perect* like a circle and then going out of shape for whatever reason.

Answer 8

People go "pear-shaped" with age.

Answer 9

Is it to do with baking fruit cakes. If the consistency or baking temperature are wrong, the fruit sinks to the bottom. I think its somewhere along those lines.

Answer 10

It's an odd shape. and soft fruit lol