"Pan Out" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 2021-04-06

0:00 - How to Say, “Pan out…”
0:19 - Examples of “Pan out…”
0:54 - Meaning of “Pan out…”
1:42 - Origin of “Pan out…”
3:09 - More Examples of “Pan out…”
3:54 - Conclusion

“Pan out…”

When someone says that they hope things “pan out”, they mean that they hope things work out, are successful, are favourable, turn out in a desirable way.

“Do you think my new business will pan out?” you might be asking your parents for reassurance.

Maybe you and your partner are painting your home, “I think this colour will pan out beautifully.”

“Be careful… your plan doesn’t sound like it’ll pan out well,” you might be giving advice to your little sister.

As you can tell, “pan out” refers to the results, the way something turns out, works out, concludes and can be either positive or negative.

If you hope that something “pans out”, you are hoping for a positive, desired, beneficial outcome…

… but, if you insert an adverb after “pans out”, you can decide its meaning; such as, “I hope it pans out nicely,” or “I don’t think it’ll pan out well.”

The origin of the idiom, “pan out”, comes from mining in the days before industrialization. Traditional mining involved only simple tools; such as shovels, hammers, chisels and pans.

Someone seeking to make a little money might pick a stream or river and pan for gold in the alluvial deposits of the stream bed…

… they’d put some dirt from the stream bed into their pan and use water to wash away the lighter sediment, hopefully revealing heavier gold that settles near the bottom of the pan.

If they did indeed find gold, their efforts “panned out”; but if they did not, their efforts did not “pan out”.

Like panning for gold, many things in life require patience, dedication and the conviction to come back again tomorrow if your efforts didn’t produce results today.

“Moving to Canada has panned out well - I met someone and we’re getting married next year!” your cousin might be chatting with you.

Perhaps your dad wants to know if your offer to purchase an apartment was accepted, “So, did it pan out? Are you a proud new homeowner?”

“It panned out horribly! I should’ve practiced a lot more,” your friend might be telling you about his audition for an upcoming movie.

So, the next time you want to ask how something went, how it turned out, what the results were, just ask, “Did it pan out?”

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