where does the phrase it's all gone pear shaped come from
Pear-shaped The third meaning is mostly limited[citation needed] to the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa and Australasia. It describes a situation that went awry, perhaps horribly wrong. A failed bank robbery, for example, could be said to have "gone pear-shaped". The origin for this use of the term is in dispute. The OED cites its origin as within the Royal Air Force as a cleaned-up alternative version of its phrase " tits-up" meaning completely broken or dead; as of 2003 the earliest citation there is a quote in the 1983 book Air War South Atlantic.[1]
Turtles all the way down The exact origin of the phrase "turtles all the way down" is uncertain. In the form "rocks all the way down", the saying appears as early as 1838.[1] References to the saying's mythological antecedents, the World Turtle and its counterpart the World Elephant, were made by a number of authors in the 17th and 18th centuries.[2][3] This mythology is frequently assumed to have originated in Hindu India. The final form of the saying is still well known and can be found in a variety of modern contexts.