Idioms – What Does ‘Apples to Apples’ Mean?

idioms

I came along this phrase in a sentence like so

… can be compared apples to apples

I guess it has something to do with apples to apples game, but I couldn't figure it out. What does this idiomatic phrase mean.

Best Answer

Comparing apples to apples means comparing things that can reasonably be compared, while the phrase apples to oranges often is used to represent a comparison that is unreasonable or perhaps impossible.

As noted in wikipedia,

The idiom, comparing apples and oranges, refers to the apparent differences between items which are popularly thought to be incomparable or incommensurable, such as apples and oranges. The idiom may also be used to indicate that a false analogy has been made between two items, such as where an apple is faulted for not being a good orange.

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