Do you know how gears work? Do you drive a car or ride a 10-speed bike?  A gear must be engaged for motion.  One has to be in gear to move.  The teeth of one gear interlock with the teeth of another gear which is fixed to still some other mechanical part that when rotated sets something else in motion.  That's one possible analogy Dell likes, even though there may be very few gears in their computers...maybe the processor fan.

The other reference to 'get in gear' might mean 'to be outfitted', as in hiking gear, hockey gear, skiing gear.  Getting in gear could be analagous to getting outfitted for the Information Age.

Hi Meantolearn,

I find this very funny because my sister often tells me to get my butt in gear! Sometimes she tells me to get my fat butt in gear! I can almost hear her sweet voice now... "Get your fat butt in gear or we'll be late! Come on, we haven't got all day!" All of the meanings you mention are related - "move", "get ready", "be in a hurry". If I'm in a hurry, I have to finish getting ready quickly, don't I? If I'm in a hurry, I have to move quickly, right? So I have to be like a race car driver and "get myself in gear".

In the original ad you mentioned, Dell wants you to hurry up and move, which to them means "move towards the telephone and order some of our wonderful 'gear'!". "Move" doesn't have to be physical movement. It could be a kind of mental "action". For example, if I just took a difficult test, I might say, "I had trouble with the first few questions, but then I got my butt in gear and I was all right". This means that I struggled with the first few questions, I was "moving" slowly. Then my super "motorized" brain got in gear, and I was all right!

One thing about idioms such as this is that you should be careful in using them. If you use them at the wrong time, you could easily be understood. If, for example, you were to say "Get your fat ass in gear!" to the wrong person, you could find yourself in the middle of a big fight! It's great to understand these kinds of expressions but you don't really need to use them. I don't think I've ever said "get in gear", in any form, in my life. Perhaps someday I'll say it, once, maybe even twice. Or maybe not.  It's not really necessary.

Hi Joe,

Welcome on board.

Thanks for the details. I appreciate it.

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MrP, interesting. Good insights.

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What about my question?

Do 'gear up' and 'get in gear' have similar meaning?

Thanks,

Clive wrote:

(He's 'geared up' is or used to be slang for 'he has a weapon')

He's packing heat.