[HN Gopher] What's Not to Like?
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       What's Not to Like?
        
       Author : wyndham
       Score  : 12 points
       Date   : 2025-07-30 17:00 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (theamericanscholar.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (theamericanscholar.org)
        
       | galaxyLogic wrote:
       | Since this is about language and similes, what about "You can't
       | compare apples and oranges"? People say that frequently, but why
       | in particular is that so?
       | 
       | I think you can compare any one thing to any other one thing. You
       | can discuss what are their common features and what features they
       | have that are not shared.
       | 
       | So it seems to me "Can't compare apples and oranges" is often
       | used just as a polemic device, trying to attack your opponents by
       | claiming what they are saying cannot be said.
        
         | Night_Thastus wrote:
         | I think it's more you shouldn't _judge_ apples based on the
         | criteria of how good it is _at being an orange_ , and vice-
         | versa.
         | 
         | Kind of like how you don't judge a fish on how well it climbs
         | trees.
        
         | AnimalMuppet wrote:
         | It seems to me that "can't compare apples and oranges" is
         | trying to say that you're using apple criteria to try to judge
         | oranges. It's not that you can't compare apples and oranges,
         | but you have to use _fruit_ criteria to do so, not apple
         | criteria or orange criteria.
         | 
         | So, to stop using similes: You can compare CPUs. You can
         | compare memory chips. You can also compare memory chips and
         | CPUs on, say, power consumption. But you can't compare memory
         | chips to CPUs in terms of MIPS. If you try, _then_ it 's
         | appropriate to accuse you of comparing apples to oranges.
        
         | jskelly wrote:
         | The Czechs say that you can't compare the sky (or the heavens,
         | depending on how you want to translate it) and bagpipes.
        
         | karolinepauls wrote:
         | It's always been like "you cannot compare values of different
         | units" to me. Maybe we should start saying "you cannot compare
         | kilograms to metres".
        
           | singleshot_ wrote:
           | A kilogram is more than enough gasoline to move my car a
           | meter.
        
         | righthand wrote:
         | Probably because the word "contrast" has been subsumed by the
         | word "compare".
         | 
         | From thefreedictionary.com for contrast:
         | 
         | > contrast to examine differences; a striking exhibition of
         | unlikeness: The contrast of styles intensified the impact of
         | the paintings.
         | 
         | > Not to be confused with: compare - to liken; relate; examine
         | similarities: compare the shades of blue
         | 
         | You can't compare apples to oranges unless you talk about their
         | similarities (round objects, fruits, etc). Similarities don't
         | offer any new value to the conversation of apples and oranges.
         | You can "contrast" apples and oranges (red, orange, better,
         | worse). Which adds new analysis to the topic.
        
         | singleshot_ wrote:
         | Moreover if you chuck an apple and an orange in a mass
         | spectrometer you will find that they are more or less exactly
         | the same. I believe someone won an igNobel prize for that
         | observation.
        
       | cafard wrote:
       | One thinks of the late Tom Lehrer:                 Your lips were
       | like wine,       If you'll pardon the simile;       The music was
       | fine       If a bit Rudolph Friml-y.
       | 
       | (The Wienerschnitzel Waltz)
        
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       (page generated 2025-07-30 23:01 UTC)