apples and oranges

English

Alternative forms

• apples to oranges

Noun

apples and oranges

1. (idiomatic) Said of a comparison of items that are not comparable.

   It's apples and oranges. You can't convert square meters to linear inches.

   Comparing the grades of English students to Engineering students is like trying to compare apples and oranges.

Antonyms

• apples to apples, apples with apples
• apples to apples, oranges to oranges
• oranges with oranges (rare)

Related terms

• mix apples and oranges

Translations

non-comparable items

• Czech: hrušky s jablky
• Dutch: appels met peren (nl) pl
• German: Äpfel mit Birnen (de)
• Russian: мухи отдельно, котлеты отдельно (ru) (múxi otdél’no, kotléty otdél’no (houseflies apart from cutlets))

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ба̏бе и жа̏бе (sh), кру̏шке и ја̏буке (sh)

  Roman: bȁbe i žȁbe (sh), krȕške i jȁbuke (sh)

• Swedish: äpplen och päron (apples and pears)

See also

• like-for-like