If you have watched my video “34 Fruit Names in English,” you know that we have a wide variety of fruit available in our supermarkets here in Canada. In English, we also use names of fruit in a lot of phrases and idioms! Here are some examples:

Comparing apples and / to / with oranges
Apples and oranges are completely different: they look different, they taste different, and they smell different. You can’t compare them because they’re so different. If you ‘compare apples to oranges,’ you are comparing two very different things.

I’m a big fan of Twilight, and I prefer Jacob to Edward, but comparing vampires and werewolves is a bit like comparing apples and oranges.

The magazine article compared the performance of stocks to bonds last year, which is comparing apples to oranges.

Note: this expression only works using ‘apples’ and ‘oranges.’ In English, it’s a fixed expression, so you can’t use other fruit names.

The fruits of one’s labour
This idiom is used to talk about the result of someone’s labour, or someone’s work.

My sister spent a long time planning the family reunion, and now that the day is here she can enjoy the fruits of her labour.

Here it is! The fruits of my labour: a new post on ‘fruit idioms’!

It is interesting to note that this expression possibly came from the Bible:
Psalm 128:2 (NIV): You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.

to cherry pick (verb)
To pick something means to choose or select something from a group; to cherry pick something means to choose or select only the best.

George Clooney is such a successful actor that he can now cherry pick the films he wants to do.

Should doctors be able to cherry-pick patients? (Headline, Globe and Mail newspaper)

Don’t cherry-pick NHS findings, minister. (Headline, Guardian newspaper)

Bananas
Not only is it a fruit, but you can also use bananas to mean ‘crazy’ or ‘excited’ or ‘angry.’

My mom went bananas when she found out I crashed her car. (angry/crazy)

I keep seeing the same commercial over and over again on TV. It’s driving me bananas! (crazy)

As soon as Justin Bieber appeared on stage, the crowd went bananas. (excited/crazy)

When life hands you / gives you lemons, make lemonade!
You can’t eat a lemon by itself. The taste is horrible. It’s very sour. However, you can use lemons to make a sweet drink called lemonade! So, if you experience something bad in life, try to turn it into a positive experience! You can say this expression to someone when you want to encourage or motivate him/her to make the best of a bad situation.

I’m so sorry that you didn’t make the football team. You know, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade!

Do you have any interesting fruit idioms in your language?