apples and oranges

1. Unlike objects or persons, as in Assessing the problems of the neighborhood grocery by examining a giant supermarket is comparing apples and oranges. This metaphor for dissimilarity began as apples and oysters, which appeared in John Ray's proverb collection of 1670. It is nearly always accompanied by a warning that one cannot compare such different categories.

Example Sentences

Colleges and universities may object that I’m comparing apples and oranges.

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Green, who negotiated with both the city and county, said comparing the two was like “apples and oranges.”

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Actually, the concept of the Packers’ streak being anything more than the three-peat they have always been credited for is semantics, fan talk ... a little bit of apples and oranges.

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"One has to be careful not to compare apples and oranges" he told the BBC.

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“So the new systems that are going into place are like apples and oranges compared to the old systems.”

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