Acomparison ofapples and oranges occurs when two items or groups of items are compared thatcannot be practically compared, typically because of inherent or fundamental differences between the objects.
Theidiom,comparing apples and oranges, refers to the differences between items which are popularly thought to be incomparable orincommensurable, such asapples andoranges. The idiom may also indicate that afalse analogy has been made between two items, such as where anapple is faulted for not being a goodorange.
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The idiom is not only used in English.
InEuropean French the idiom iscomparer des pommes et des poires (to compare apples and pears) orcomparer des choux et des carottes (to compare cabbages and carrots). The former is the same as the GermanÄpfel mit Birnen vergleichen.[1]
InLatin American Spanish, it iscomparar papas y boniatos (to compare potatoes and sweet potatoes) or, for allvarieties of Spanish,comparar peras con manzanas (to compare pears and apples) orsumar peras con manzanas (to add pears and apples). InPeninsular Spanish,juntar churras con merinas (mix Churras with Merinos, two breeds of sheep) andconfundir el tocino con la velocidad (confuse bacon and speed). Italian (sommare le mele con le pere) and Romanian (a aduna merele cu perele) also compare pears and apples. In Portuguese, the expression iscomparar laranjas com bananas (to compare oranges and bananas).[2]
InSerbian, it isПоредити бабе и жабе (Porediti babe i žabe) (to compare grandmothers and toads). InRomanian, it isbaba și mitraliera (the grandmother and the machine gun) andvaca și izmenele (the cow and the longjohns).
Some languages compare dissimilar properties of dissimilar items. InDanish,Hvad er højest,Rundetårn eller et tordenskrald? (Which is highest, the Round Tower or a thunderclap?), referring to the size of the former and the sound of the latter. InRussian,сравнивать тёплое с мягким (sravnivatʹ tjoploje s mjagkim) (to compare warm and soft) is used.[3] InArgentina, a common question is¿En qué se parecen el amor y el ojo del hacha? (What does love and the eye of an axe have in common?). InColombia,confundir la mierda con la pomada (to confuse shit with ointment) is used. InPolish, a similar idiomatic question isco ma piernik do wiatraka? (What does the gingerbread have to do with the windmill?). InChinese, a similar phrase is used:风马牛不相及 (fēng mǎ niú bù xiāng jí) (horses and cattle won't mate with each other).
A humorous variant is to replace "oranges" with something utterly dissimilar to apples; most famously, Jack Horner said that comparing science and religion is like comparing "apples and sewing machines." The idea is that although dissimilar, apples and oranges are at least fruits and at least share rudimentary similarities, whereas comparing them to something entirely different, such as pine cones or light bulbs, highlights how patently absurd making a comparison between the two is. This may be extended even further, comparing the fruit to non-physical concepts, such as "apples andjury nullification".
A particular related idiom found in accounting and economics is that of the "apples to apples comparison"; such comparisons are meant to filter out such complicating factors as accounting standards, size and scale and time periods. For example,same-store sales is widely used as measurement because it allows a direct comparison of how the business is doing ignoring growth, which can be a significant complicating factor.[4]
At least twotongue-in-cheek scientific studies have been conducted on the subject, each of which concluded that apples can be compared with oranges reasonably easily and on a low budget, and the two fruits are quite similar.
The first study, conducted byScott Sandford of theNASA Ames Research Center, usedinfrared spectroscopy to analyze both apples and oranges. The study, which was published in the satirical science magazineAnnals of Improbable Research, concluded: "... the comparing apples and oranges defense should no longer be considered valid. This is a somewhat startling revelation. It can be anticipated to have a dramatic effect on the strategies used in arguments and discussions in the future."[5]
A second study, written byStamford Hospital'ssurgeon-in-chief James Barone and published in theBritish Medical Journal, noted that the phraseapples and oranges was appearing with increasing frequency in the medical literature, with some notable articles comparing "Desflurane andpropofol" and "Salmeterol andipratropium" with "apples and oranges". The study also found that both apples and oranges were sweet, similar in size, weight, and shape, that both are grown inorchards, and both may be eaten, juiced, and so on. The only significant differences found were in terms ofseeds (the study used seedless oranges), the involvement ofJohnny Appleseed, and color.[6]
TheAnnals of Improbable Research subsequently noted that the "earlier investigation was done with more depth, more rigour, and, most importantly, more expensive equipment" than theBritish Medical Journal study.[7]
OnApril Fools' Day 2014,The Economist compared worldwide production of apples and oranges from 1983 to 2013, and noted them to be "unrelated variables".[8]
While references to comparing apples and oranges are often arhetorical device, references to adding apples and oranges are made in the case of teaching students the proper uses ofunits.[9][10] Here, the warning not to "add apples and oranges" refers to the requirement that two quantities with different units may not be combined by addition, although they may always becombined in ratio form by multiplication, so that multiplying ratios of apples and oranges is allowed. Similarly, the concept of this distinction is often usedmetaphorically inelementary algebra.
