Big Bob [Things Went Pear-Shaped]

Sometimes things don’t go as planned—sometimes they go sideways, downhill, or ... pear-shaped! In this episode of Randomidiom, we dive into the origin of the expression "things went pear-shaped." Guided by linguists Dr. Lynne Murphy and Ben Yagoda, we track how RAF aerobatic jargon crossed the Atlantic to become a mainstream American idiom.

Woven throughout is the dramatic true story of RAF Squadron Leader Bob Iveson during the 1982 Falklands War. Shot down during the Battle for Goose Green, Iveson’s mid-air ejection and survival in the freezing South Atlantic yielded the first recorded use of the phrase.

• Jeremy John Pook Oral History Interview - Imperial War Museums

• Central News (24.06.1982): Bob Iveson - MACE Archive

• Rescue for British Pilot Who Ejected - UPI Archives

• Harrier GR.3 XZ997: The Journey of a Falklands Veteran - RAF Museum Blog

• Harriers over the Falklands - RAF Museum Blog

• Mk 10 Immersion Suit - RAF Museum Story Vault

• "Very Quickly the Aircraft Started Falling Apart Around Me" - RAF Museum Story Vault

• RAF Remembers End of Falklands Conflict - Royal Air Force

• Falklands 35: Big Bob - Falklands 35 Blog

• Air War South Atlantic - Internet Archive

• The Falklands War: The Full Story - Internet Archive

• The Last 100 Yards: LSCO Volume 9 - Army University Press

• British Aircraft Lost: 1982 Falklands War - Naval-History.Net

• Diario de Operaciones: Teniente Jorge Squire - Radar Malvinas Archive

• The Falklands War 1982 - British Empire History Project

• Ben Yagoda on "Go Pear-Shaped" - Not One-Off Britishisms

• Lynne Murphy on "Go West / Go South" - Separated by a Common Language

• Google Ngram Viewer

• Origins of "Everything's Gone Pear-Shaped" - English Language & Usage

Referenced Sources & Further Reading