（一天一苹果，医生远离我！）
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缘起
Apple这个水果，在英语中，尤其是在美国英语中真是神奇之至。据说美国有7个地方叫“苹果谷”（Apple Valley），还有两个叫“苹果”的城市。
苹果的栽培历史悠久，《圣经》中就有记载。亚当在夏娃的唆使下咬了一口苹果，上帝为了惩罚他就让一块苹果堵在他的喉咙上形成一个节，以此提醒他所犯的罪过，这就是Adam’s apple（喉结）的由来，比如说 Your Adam’s apple is not apparent（你的喉结还不是很明显）。
据说北美洲最早的苹果树是由法国的耶稣会会士（Jesuit）在16世纪后期传入的。然后就成了这些早期定居者家家必备之物，须臾离不得的。在他们看来，苹果可以生吃，可以油煎，可以炖煮，还可以烤熟了吃。苹果可以用来做苹果汁（cider）、苹果醋(vinegar和苹果白兰地(brandy)。苹果还可以晒干保存，也可以存放在加热的烘干屋制成苹果干(preserves)或苹果酱(apple butter)。即使是劣质的苹果也可以用来做动物的饲料。
这可能也就能解释为什么在英语中，尤其是在美国英语中有如此多的与苹果相关的表达了。
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释义
当然，苹果首先还是水果，An apple a day keeps the doctor away, 每天吃个苹果都不用找医生看病了。
因为喜欢苹果，所以把更有营养的番茄就称为a love apple或an apple of love。
还有apple-sauce 苹果酱，苹果沙司，（美俚）假话。不过，苹果酱怎么成了假话的代名词了呢？
the apple of one’s eye 瞳孔，掌上明珠，珍爱之物
例1. Iris is the apple of my eye. 爱丽斯真是我的掌上明珠。
a smooth apple（美俚）讨人喜欢的人
apple-knocker （美俚）乡下人，庄稼汉
a wise apple尖酸刻薄的人（a person who has the reputation of being sarcastic.），比如:
例2. Dodd really knows how to get on my nerves. He always has something smart to say. He is such a wise apple. 多德真是知道怎么烦我。他总是有了不起的话要说。他这人太尖刻了。
apple-pie有两个基本的意思，一个是“完美的，极好的”，比如：
例3. Jack keeps all his books in an apple pie order. 杰克把他所有的书都摆放得干净整洁。
还有一个意思，“美国传统价值观念的，具有美国传统价值观念特征的”，比如：
例4. Watching football on Sunday is as American as apple pie. 周日观看橄榄球比赛是地道的美式生活。
apple-polish （美俚）拍马屁，an apple-polisher马屁精 (a flatterer)，比如：
例5. Ellen is always quick to help out the boss with any little thing. Jessica thinks he is just being a nice guy, but I think he is just an apple-polisher! 艾伦总是能帮老板搞定那些不起眼的事。杰西卡认为艾伦他只是在干好自己的本职，我却认为他是个马屁精。
The apple never falls far from the tree. （个人的成长离不开家庭的熏陶。）（used to describe when a person behaves in a similar way to their family, usually their parents）比如：
例6. Did you hear that Edwin’s son also wants to be a doctor? I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. （有没有听说埃德温的儿子也想当个大夫？我想这就是家庭熏陶的结果。）
like comparing apples to oranges 就像把苹果和橘子胡乱对比一样(making an unfair comparison or comparing to things that are not similar at all)，比如：
例7. Comparing the way those two companies operate is like comparing apples to oranges. They are completely different.比较这两家公司的营运模式就像在把苹果和橘子相比那样，完全不是一回事。
to mix apples and oranges 把苹果和橘子混为一谈(to compare two different things) ，比如：
例8. You can’t compare living in Mexico with living in Egypt. That is like mixing apples and oranges. 不能把生活在墨西哥和生活在埃及相类比。简直是混为一谈。
one smart apple （聪明的人，了不起的家伙）
例9. Carl always did great on the final exams. “That boy is one smart apple,” the teacher said, "he is going to go places.”卡尔总是在期末考试的时候考出好成绩。“那孩子很聪明”，老师说，“将来一定会发达的”。(注意：此处用的是one smart apple而不是a smart apple，这就是固定搭配。)
as sure as God made little green apples深信不疑 (to express absolute certainty that something is going to happen)，比如：
例10. I am as sure as God made little green apples that he is going to regret buying that house. 他一定会后悔买了那套房子，我对此深信不疑。
apple of discord 争议之源；祸根 (something that causes unhappiness)，比如：
例11. What seems to be the apple of discord here? Why aren’t you two getting along? 啥事让你俩都不高兴呢？你俩咋就搞不到一块儿呢？
second bite of the apple 再给一次机会（to be given a second chance or opportunity to do something），比如：
例12. Kerry’s first attempt at welding was a bust. Jim decided to give him a second bite of the apple, but this time he was going to show him exactly how to do it. 克里第一次焊接就搞砸了。吉姆决定再让他试一试，但这次还得他亲自给他示范才行。
to trade off the orchard for an apple 抓不住主次；捡了芝麻丢了西瓜；为了个苹果把苹果园都不要了（used to describe a person who instead of looking at the big picture is overly concerned about the small unimportant details），比如：
例13. Freda spends a lot of time on the slides of the presentation and ignores to practice her English speaking skill. She shouldn't trade off the orchard for an apple.弗丽达把大把的时间花在幻灯片上而忽略了练习英语口语。她真不应该抓不住主次。
A bad / rotten apple spoils the whole bunch / bushel / barrel 一颗烂苹果毁了一筐好苹果；一条臭鱼腥了一锅汤（one bad thing could ruin everything. One negative person could affect the entire group），比如：
例14.Helen is the rotten apple that spoils the barrel in our office. Everyone sees her come in late to work and take long coffee breaks, and they think, "Why can't I do the same?"海伦在我们办公室就是那个带坏风气的烂苹果。人人都看见她上班来的晚，工间喝咖啡休息时间也比别人长，所以大家就在想“我干嘛不也有样学样呢？”
与此相类似的表达还有The rotten apple injures its neighbours（一个烂苹果会祸害周围所有的苹果。）
美国人把自己那最大的最有影响力的大都市（the largest and most influential American metropolis）纽约昵称为“大苹果”（Big Apple），尽显喜爱之意，比如：
例15. Have you ever been to the Big Apple? 你有没有去过“大苹果”纽约呢？
例16. On my first trip to the U.S. I want to visit the Big Apple, Los Angeles, Chicago and hopefully Miami.我要去美国旅行的话，我首先就想去纽约、洛杉矶、芝加哥，当然，如果还有可能的话，还想去迈阿密。
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结束语
乔布斯选Apple作为其电脑品牌的名称，原因就是他喜欢苹果。（Jobs came up with the name simply because he liked apples），据说，乔布斯本人曾说“it sounded fun, spirited and not intimidating...plus, it would get us ahead of Atari in the phone book.”（苹果这个名听起来趣味横生、给人以激情而且还不会让人感到有所畏惧……还有一点呢，它会让我们公司在电话簿的排名上排在Atari公司之前。）（Atari是一家创建于1972年的电脑公司。）
