‘The apple of my eye’ and other famous apple sayings

How far does the apple fall from the tree? Should you avoid comparing apples with pears or oranges? Apples appear in our everyday language no matter what language we speak. Explore some uses you’ll know and discover some you might not!

Apple of my eye

Let’s start with ‘the apple of my eye’. This phrase is used several times in the Old Testament, for example in Proverbs 7:2: ‘Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.’ It means something, or someone, that you care deeply about.

Its origins may be from a Hebrew phrase meaning ‘little man of the eye’, referring to the reflection of yourself you see in other people’s eyes - expressing the idea that you are held close or cherished by that person.

Shakespeare famously used the phrase too, but interestingly, he used it without that romantic meaning of care, closeness and love. In Shakespeare’s day, there was no word for the pupil in an eye, and the phrase ‘apple of the eye’ was used as an anatomical reference, because apples are round and so is the black hole in your eye! So in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, when Shakespeare wrote ‘Flower of this purple dye, Hit with Cupid’s archery, Sink in apple of his eye’, he meant simply that the love potion would go into Demetrius’ eye.

The first recorded use of the phrase with this meaning is thought to be in a ninth-century English translation of a Latin text by Alfred the Great.

Apple phrases in English and other languages

The English language is full of apple idioms. If you climb the 'apples and pears' (Cockney rhyming slang for ‘stairs’) to make your friend ‘an apple-pie bed’ (a practical joke with the sheets folded so that their legs can’t stretch out), you might ‘upset the apple cart’ (disturb the normal state of affairs). But don’t worry, this doesn’t have to be ‘the rotten apple that spoils the barrel’ (a bad influence that ruins everything), you can ‘take a second bite of the apple’ (have another go) and put everything back in ‘apple-pie order’ (make it neat again), even if you also have to do some ‘apple-polishing’ (flattery) along the way.

But English isn’t the only language that uses apple phrases.

Many languages have a version of ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’, which, from a physics perspective, I’m sure Isaac Newton would agree with! In this phrase, it means that a child is very like their parent.

And many languages use ‘Adam’s apple’ to mean that bit that sticks out in your throat, more so in males than females, a phrase which is thought to refer to that forbidden fruit taken from the Garden of Eden.

Another one that appears in a lot of languages is ‘You can’t compare apples and pears’, which in English tends to be apples and oranges.

And many of us agree that ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away.’

Unique apple phrases

But there are also some great apple phrases that aren’t so ubiquitous.

Take the Dutch ‘Appeltje-eitje’ (apple-egg) to mean something that’s easy, which also appears in German as ‘Für einen Apfel und ein Ei’ (for an apple and an egg). Or the French ‘Haut comme trois pommes’ (as tall as three apples) to mean short when referring to children.

If you are arguing with someone, you might find ‘Il pomo della discordia’ in Italian, (the apple of discord), which in English might be a bone of contention. This phrase is thought to refer back to the apple that might have started the war between the Trojans and Greeks.

Sometimes you might have to ‘In den sauren Apfel beißen’ (bite the sour apple) - do something you don’t want to because it’s necessary. Perhaps you start to make fun of someone in German - ‘Jemanden veräppeln’ (apple joke) and, if things escalate, in Polish, you might ‘Stłuc kogoś na kwaśne jabłko’ (beat someone into a sour apple) to mean beat to a pulp.

In happier idioms, if you find your kindred spirit in Italian, you might ‘Trovare l'altra metà della mela’ (find the other side of the apple). Similarly in Persian, two love birds might be ‘ مثل سیبی که ازوسط نصف شده ‘ (like an apple cut in half).

So, how do like them apples? Test your knowledge with this quiz on apple idioms from the Government of Canada!