To go pear shaped

[jazzz8]

Hi,

could anyone please explain to me "to go pear-shaped". I overheard one of my colleagues say that the other day and got really confused. The way he said it made me think it might be something not too good.

 

[jazzz8]

Thanks, makes sense! so can you literally replace it with the word wrong? like would you say: today everything went pear-shaped?

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks, that makes sense! So can you literally replace it with the word "wrong"? [STRIKE]like[/STRIKE] For example, would you say "Today, everything went pear-shaped"?

Note my corrections above. Yes, you could say that. However, you can't use "pear-shaped" instead of "wrong" in every context. You can use "go/went pear-shaped" to replace "go/went wrong" in most contexts.

It all went wrong. :tick:
It all went pear-shaped. :tick:

I got the question wrong. :tick:
I got the question pear-shaped. :cross:

 

[moodybuddie]

Makes total sense now! Is there an online dictionary or source that can be used to check sayings or idioms?

 

[emsr2d2]

This forum has its own list of idioms in the Reference section. Click here.

 

[jazzz8]

Did not know about that - thank you emsr2d2 Just checked it out and it is a really helpful source of idioms to all kinds of topics (lots ot learn here).