Appleisms


Apples are not only good they are good for you. Apples put roses in your cheeks, variety in your meals, and spice in your life. A staple to untold past civilizations, this favorite fruit continues to provide food and "food for thought" for modern cultures.	The language and literature of ancient and modern cultures reflect the significance of the apple as it continues to be an integral element of prose, poetry, and everyday speech. This chapter is devoted to those apple words I lovingly refer to as ...

The essence of the apple has often been used to describe the good, the bad, and--yes--the ugly. Famous and not so famous Appleisms are cited at
Literary Words.

A number of Appleisms allude to good health, philosophy, and patriotism. Most even have more than one connotation at
Pithy Words

Appleisms depict sentiment among other expressions in everyday speech. They are in apple-pie order at
Familiar Words.

Appleisms lend themselves to verse. Note these well-versed songs at
Musical Words.

Did you ever play a game that involved Appleisms? Jump to Active Words

Quotation		Author	Source
A goodly apple rotten at the heart. O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath! There's small choice in rotten apples.		Shakespeare Shakespeare	THE MERCHANT OF VENICE THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
Adam was but human--this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple's sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden.		Mark Twain	PUDD'NHEAD WILSON
River City's gonna have her Boys Band! As sure as the Lord made little green apples, and that band's gonna be in uniform!		Meredith Wilson	THE MUSIC MAN
The best of all physicians is apple pie and cheese!		Eugene Field	"Apple Pie and Cheese"
This feat of Tell, the archer, will be told While yonder mountains stand upon their base. By heaven! The apple's cleft right through the core.		Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller	WILHELM TELL
My apple trees will never get across And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. He only says, "Good fences make good neighbors.		Robert Frost	"Mending Walls"
How many times it thundered before Franklin took the hint! How many apples fell on Newton's head before he took the hint! Nature is always hinting at us. It hints over and over again. And suddenly we take the hint.		Robert Frost	Comment
A s r o u n d a s a p p i l w a s h i s f a c e.		G e o f f r e y C h a u c e r	T h e R o m a u n t of the R o s e
Planting the trees that would march and train On, in his name to the great Pacific, Like Birnam Wood to Dunsinane, Johnny Appleseed swept on.		Vachel Lindsay	"In Praise of Johnny Appleseed"
I tell you folks, all politics is applesauce.		Will Rogers	THE ILLITERATE DIGEST
The friendly cow all red and white, I love with all my heart She gives me cream with all her might, To eat with apple tart.		Robert Louis Stevenson	A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES
	We are born believing A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples.	Ralph Waldo Emerson	THE CONDUCT OF LIFE
All human history attests That happiness for man--the hungry sinner!-- Since Eve ate apples, much depends on dinner.		Lord Byron	DON JUAN
Keep me as the apple of thy eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.		THE HOLY BIBLE	Psalms 17:8

Pithy Words

Patriotism:

As American as apple pie. Mom's apple pie

Psychology:

One bad apple can ruin the bunch.A bad apple.

Political:

Don't upset the apple cart. As American as Mom's apple pie.

Health:

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Apple cheeks.

Heredity:

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. They are as different as apples and oranges.A bad apple.

Philosophy:

Don't upset the apple cart. As sure as God made little green apples. Different as apples and oranges.

Love:

You are the apple of my eye. Mom's apple pie.

As American as apple pie.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

A bad apple can ruin the bunch.

When life gives you a lemon, make applesauce -- Oops, that's not right is it. (Just seeing if you're paying attention.)

Storage (in general):

One bad apple can ruin the bunch. Don't upset the apple cart.


Familiar Words

Words	Examples
Adam's apple	Is Adam's apple a metaphor for the fall? Was the apple stuck in Adam's throat? Or should it have been? Maybe. But it may also be a simple reference to an apple-shaped bulge often more prominent in a man's neck than in a woman's.
Apple	The word apple is often used to describe the round shape or red color of something. For example, you might say, "Apple cheeks complemented her bright, blue eyes.
Apple green, et al	Apple words are often used to describe an unrelated object's color. For example, The apple-green sofa was the focal point of the apple blossom wall. Or, the Corvette was candy-apple red. Other colors include apple red and apple blossom pink.
Applecart	An applecart is a project that may not work out. The apple was an important staple for early Americans, so one might surmise that this word stems from the disastrous results of having a cart full of apples overturned and the fruit ruined.
Apple of discord	Not all apple words have sweet or loving meanings. An apple of discord is a controversy. The
Apple knocker	Some apple associations may be less than flattering. An apple knocker is an apple picker or a fruit picker, in general, and also suggests being a hick or a rube.
Apple-pie	Apple-pie is an adjective used to describe that which is done well: She quickly put the family room in apple-pie order.
	Since apple pie is the quintessential American dish, especially dear to our forefathers, apple-pie also describes our inherited values: Apple-pie ideals are the foundation of our country.
Apple-pie bed	In addition to apple pie, Americans love apple turnovers, which could be described as single-serving pies. The folded shape of the turnover is the inspiration of the practical joke of apple-pie bed.
Apple polish	Polishing an apple makes it shine, and you might flatter (or polish ) someone to win them over. Good salesmen are top-notch apple polishers.
Applesauce	Applesauce is another delicious apple dish, but it is also an American description of a mess or nonsense.
The Big Apple	New York City's nickname
Mincemeat	Back to pies, mincemeat is a yummy mesh of ingredients, including apples, that defy recognition is the final product, hence the intent of this threat, "I'll make mincemeat out of you!"

Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree

. . . Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me until I come marching home.

Cherry Pink and Apple blossom White

Little Green Apples

. . . .And if that's not loving me, then all I've got to say, "God didn't make little green apples, and it don't rain in Indianapolis in the summertime. And there's no such thing as Doctor Seuss or Disneyland and Mother Goose, no nursery rhyme. . . .

In the Shade
of the Old Apple Tree

Bob for apples

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, I'll bet this old game doesn't need any words to go with this picture.

Air Bobbing

Try a new twist to the traditional game of bobbing for apples which eliminates the splashy tub of water. Of course, the best part of this game is that the winners and losers both get to eat the results.

Prepare a small apple for each guest by threading a large needle with string and tying a thick knot at the end. Pierce the apple with the needle and pull the thread through the fruit allowing the knot to rest against the bottom of the apple.

Next tie the string to a pole, and have someone hold it within reach of the "bobber's bite range. The bobber must tuck hands behind the back while trying to catch the apple with only the mouth and teeth.

Literary Words

Quotation

Author

Source