apples and oranges

Idioms  

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.

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Example Sentences

That’s why comparing stocks’ past returns to Social Security’s risk-free, inflation-adjusted payments isn’t apples and oranges.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

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

From MarketWatch • Oct. 14, 2025

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

From BBC • Dec. 9, 2024

"It's like mixing apples and oranges in the juicer then complaining that the drink doesn't taste like an apple, so it couldn't have been an apple going in," says Herculano-Houzel.

From Salon • May 4, 2024

Piper put her new sword to good use, while spraying food from the cornucopia in her other hand—using hams, chickens, apples, and oranges as interceptor missiles.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan