Apple Alma Mater

Popular wisdom and general truth are often crystallized in various idioms, proverbs, adages, maxims, axioms, dictums, aphorisms, and other sayings.

Here is a collection of apple-based pearls of wisdom, organized in sections; some of them are translated from original languages.

APPLE SAYINGS

Literature about apples contains a lot of wise sayings. Here are some international proverbs and idioms, famous in more than one country, along with national proverbs and sayings, apparently found in just one country; all organized by languages in alphabetical order. Those sayings can flavor any relevant text or discourse. They can be useful for pomological entities, apple orchards, farmers’ markets, grocery stores, festivals, and other events for apple celebrations, and for various other purposes and occasions. Some ideas for the use of those sayings include but are not limited to epigraphs for poems, prose, blogs, and sites, as well as messages on souvenirs, clothes, kitchen stuff, and home decor productions, including mugs, cutting boards, aprons, towels, tablecloths, bags, T-shirts, scarves, postcards, paintings, etc.

Proverbs & Idioms

An apple a day keeps the doctor away (American/ British/ French/ Italian/ Spanish ...)
An apple does not fall far from the tree / (Dutch/ Finnish/ French/ German/ Italian/ Kazakh/ Russian/ Swedish/ Yiddish ...)
A bad tree does not yield good apples (American/ English)
A pear tree cannot bear an apple (American/ Croatian / Serbian)
A rock from a friend is like an apple (Mauritanian/ Moroccan/ Sicilian)
Good-looking apples are sometimes sour (Dutch/ German)
One bad apple spoils the bunch (the whole barrel/ the harvest) (American/ Dutch/ English/ Finnish/ German/ Yiddish ...)
The rotten apple injures its neighbor (companion) (Italian/ Spanish)
There is a small choice of rotten apples (English/ Russian/ Spanish ...)
When the apple is ripe, it will fall (American/ French/ Irish/ Kazakh ...)
One who doesn't appreciate the apple, won't appreciate the orchard (Afghan)
An apple pie without some cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze (American)
Don't upset the apple cart (American)
What's the good of a fair apple if it has a worm in its heart? (American)
Like an apple to an oyster (British)
The apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest (British)
If you want apples, you have to shake the trees (Bulgarian)
The nice apples are always eaten by nasty pigs (Bulgarian)
A bad tree does not yield good apples (Danish)
For an apple and an egg (Dutch)
A rotten apple won’t last (French)
A sour apple is better than a rotten one (French)
Always keep an apple for thirst (French)
Never look for a worm in the apple of your eye (French)
He that is won with a nut, may be lost with an apple (Galician)
If the prince wants an apple, his servants take the tree (German)
In any barrel, there is a foul apple (German)
Those who have tasted a sour apple will have more relish for a sweet one (German)
Whoever has bitten a sour apple will enjoy a sweet one all the more (German)
You can count the apples on a tree, but you can't count the trees from one apple (Gypsy)
Adam ate the apple, and our teeth still ache (Hungarian)
One of the two partners always bites the best part of the apple (Indian)
Different men have different opinions -- some prefer apples, some onions (Indonesian)
The apple falls on the head that's under it (Irish)
Sometimes it is better to give your apple away than to eat it yourself (Italian)
Apple blossoms are beautiful, but rice dumplings are better (Japanese)
Ripe apple, fall into my mouth! (Kazakh)
Even though the night is dark, all the apples have been counted (Kazakh)
If a mother eats a sour apple, her child’s teeth ache (Kazakh)
Even rot won’t stick to a rotten apple (Kazakh)
Apples taste sweetest when they are going (Latin)
From the egg (all the way) to the apples (Latin)
I would rather be in an apple-tree, than a bad man in distress (Latin)
It fattens the capon for Christmas, with corn and apple (Mexican)
Exchanging an apple for garlic is not good work (Mexican)
Like the apple, from inside rotten, from outside healthy (Mexican)
Healthy as an apple (Mexican)
The pear does not wait, but the apple waits (Mexican)
Peel the peach for the friend, and the apple for the better friend (Mexican)
To beat someone to a sour apple (Polish)
An apple likes to keep the taste of its tree (Polish)
Sodom apples outwardly fair, ashes at the core (Romanian)
If there is no apple one eats a little carrot (Russian)
No apple tree is immune from worms (Russian)
Better apple gave, nor eaten (Scotch)
Give an apple to the little ones, a book to the old (Sicilian)
Things for children - apple, almonds, and hazelnuts (Sicilian)
Most of these apples are wormy (Syrian)
There are many who throw stones at a red apple (Turkish)
A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible (Welsh)
Your neighbor's apples are the sweetest (Yiddish)

References:

Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. 16th Edition. Revised by Adrian Room. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.,1999.
Collins, Harry. 101 American English Proverbs. Lincolnwood: Passport Books, 1992.
Ewart, Neil. Everyday Phrases. Their Origins and Meanings. Blandford Press, 1983.
Funk, Wilfred. Word Origins. An Exploration and History of Words and Language. New York: Wings Books, 1998.
Hendrickson, Robert. Word and Phrase Origins. 4th Ed., New York: Infobase Publishing, 2008.
Korach, Myron & John B. Mordock. Common Phrases and Where they Come From. The Lyons Press. 2001.
Le Robert. Dictionnaire des expressions et locutions figurées. Paris : Dictionnaire Le Robert/VUEF, 2002.
Le Robert. Proverbes et dictons. Sous la direction de Montreynaud, F., Pierron, A., Sozzini, F. Paris : Dictionnaire Le Robert, 1993.
Morris, Evan. The Word Detective. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 2000.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs. Edited by J.A. Simpson. Oxford University Press, 1982.
The Word Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2018.

Apple Alma Mater

Proverbs & Idioms ​

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An apple a day keeps the doctor away (American/ British/ French/ Italian/ Spanish ...)

An apple does not fall far from the tree / (Dutch/ Finnish/ French/ German/ Italian/ Kazakh/ Russian/ Swedish/ Yiddish ...)

A bad tree does not yield good apples (American/ English)

A pear tree cannot bear an apple (American/ Croatian / Serbian)

A rock from a friend is like an apple (Mauritanian/ Moroccan/ Sicilian)

Good-looking apples are sometimes sour (Dutch/ German)

One bad apple spoils the bunch (the whole barrel/ the harvest) (American/ Dutch/ English/ Finnish/ German/ Yiddish ...)

The rotten apple injures its neighbor (companion) (Italian/ Spanish)

There is a small choice of rotten apples (English/ Russian/ Spanish ...)

When the apple is ripe, it will fall (American/ French/ Irish/ Kazakh ...)

One who doesn't appreciate the apple, won't appreciate the orchard (Afghan)

An apple pie without some cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze (American)

Don't upset the apple cart (American)

What's the good of a fair apple if it has a worm in its heart? (American)

Like an apple to an oyster (British)

The apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest (British)

If you want apples, you have to shake the trees (Bulgarian)

The nice apples are always eaten by nasty pigs (Bulgarian)

A bad tree does not yield good apples (Danish)

For an apple and an egg (Dutch)

A rotten apple won’t last (French)

A sour apple is better than a rotten one (French)

Always keep an apple for thirst (French)

Never look for a worm in the apple of your eye (French)

He that is won with a nut, may be lost with an apple (Galician)

If the prince wants an apple, his servants take the tree (German)

In any barrel, there is a foul apple (German)

Those who have tasted a sour apple will have more relish for a sweet one (German)

Whoever has bitten a sour apple will enjoy a sweet one all the more (German)

You can count the apples on a tree, but you can't count the trees from one apple (Gypsy)

Adam ate the apple, and our teeth still ache (Hungarian)

One of the two partners always bites the best part of the apple (Indian)

Different men have different opinions -- some prefer apples, some onions (Indonesian)

The apple falls on the head that's under it (Irish)

Sometimes it is better to give your apple away than to eat it yourself (Italian)

Apple blossoms are beautiful, but rice dumplings are better (Japanese)

Ripe apple, fall into my mouth! (Kazakh)

Even though the night is dark, all the apples have been counted (Kazakh)

If a mother eats a sour apple, her child’s teeth ache (Kazakh)

Even rot won’t stick to a rotten apple (Kazakh)

Apples taste sweetest when they are going (Latin)

From the egg (all the way) to the apples (Latin)

I would rather be in an apple-tree, than a bad man in distress (Latin)

It fattens the capon for Christmas, with corn and apple (Mexican)

Exchanging an apple for garlic is not good work (Mexican)

Like the apple, from inside rotten, from outside healthy (Mexican)

Healthy as an apple (Mexican)

The pear does not wait, but the apple waits (Mexican)

Peel the peach for the friend, and the apple for the better friend (Mexican)

To beat someone to a sour apple (Polish)

An apple likes to keep the taste of its tree (Polish)

Sodom apples outwardly fair, ashes at the core (Romanian)

If there is no apple one eats a little carrot (Russian)

No apple tree is immune from worms (Russian)

Better apple gave, nor eaten (Scotch)

Give an apple to the little ones, a book to the old (Sicilian)

Things for children - apple, almonds, and hazelnuts (Sicilian)

Most of these apples are wormy (Syrian)

There are many who throw stones at a red apple (Turkish)

A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible (Welsh)

Your neighbor's apples are the sweetest (Yiddish)

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Proverbs & Idioms