go pear-shaped

Etymology

 * the following etymologies have been suggested:


 * From the image of a solid rectangle “slipping down” into a pear shape, thus “the bottom drops out”.
 * From the image of a balloon or football losing its spherical shape after being punctured.

Apparently the term was originally slang,  but came into common use by the 1990s.

Verb

 * 1)  To go awry; to go wrong.

Translations

 * Finnish:, ,
 * French:, partir à la dérive, partir à vau-l'eau, ,  ,
 * German:, ,
 * Russian: идти наперекосяк, всё идёт наперекосяк
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish: ,