Fruit Salad: apple, banana, cherry, grape, orange, lemon

Idioms with apple

Idiom Explanation Example
it’s apples and oranges it’s pointless to compare two fundamentally different or opposing things You can’t compare Max’s job with Emma’s; he’s a footballer and she’s a brain surgeon, it’s apples and oranges.
the apple of my eye favourite or most beloved person Silvia’s little grandson is the apple of her eye, they spend every day together.
the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree children grow up to be similar to their parents —Clara is studying medicine, she wants to be a doctor like her mum.
—Well, you know what they say. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!
a bad apple a person with questionable character whose behaviour has a negative effect on others I was a bad apple at school. I played tricks on the teachers and made my friends help me.

Idioms with other fruit

Idiom Explanation Example
go bananas become extremely angry or excited Alice will go bananas when she opens her birthday present. She’s been asking for a bike for months.
cherry pick the practice of only selecting the very best items from what is available You have to look at all the facts instead of just cherry picking those that support your ideas.
sour grapes having a negative attitude towards something because it can’t be obtained, similar to being a sore loser Paula said that she didn’t really want the job anyway, but I think that’s just sour grapes because they gave it to Jeff.
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Exercises C1

Complete the sentences with the words below. Use each word once.

apple – bananas – cherry – grapes – oranges

  1. I borrowed my mum’s car and crashed it. She’s going to go   when she finds out.
  2. Alfie is an only child, he’s the   of his dad’s eye.
  3. I hate working with Dan, he just   picks his tasks and I have to do all the difficult and boring stuff.
  4. I don’t know which is better; one is a rock star and one is a country music singer, it’s apples and  .
  5. Ben says that he’s not coming to watch the final. I think it’s sour   because his team didn’t qualify.

Choose the correct idiom.

  1. The politician ignored all of the difficult questions and only answered when it suited him. Typical …
  2. Daisy is always getting into trouble, she’s a bad influence on the rest of the group. She’s …
  3. I forgot to water Maria’s plants while she was away and they all died. When she came back she …
  4. Remy has started guitar lessons, he’s got a real talent for it, just like his dad.
  5. Walter loves his cat Whiskers so much. She’s …
  6. The Jamesons were rejected from the country club. They said that they were never that interested anyway, but it’s just …
  7. —I prefer Paris to Berlin.
    —They have totally different vibes, you can’t compare them. It’s …

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