Idioms Part 20 (Food - Fruit) Interactive Game

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Are all these idioms driving you bananas? I sure hope not! Keep playing these games over and over again, and soon you'll be enjoying the fruits of your labour.

Let's run through the idioms.

bear fruit

When something bears fruit, it means that it has started to yield some success: After slogging day and night at it for a couple of years, his restaurant is, at last, starting to bear fruit.

the fruit/fruits of your labour

These are the benefits you get from something such as hard work: After 50 years of hard work, he can now retire and start enjoying the fruits of his labour.

forbidden fruit

This is something that is desirable because it is illegal or immoral: I don't normally go for these type of films, but since it's been banned, it's become a forbidden fruit for me.

tree is known by its fruit

You judge a person by what he's done: He's told so many lies before that no-one believes him anymore. You know what they say... a tree is known by its fruit.

apple of one's eye

If someone is the apple of your eye, you're extremely fond of that person: He says that he loves all his grandchildren equally, but anyone can see that Akira is the apple of his eye.

upset the apple cart

When you upset the apple cart, you ruin a plan or an event: We were all having such a good time until Tammy upset the apple cart by telling that sick joke.

go bananas

When you go bananas, you feel some strong emotion such as excitement, anger or frustration: Trying to learn all these idioms is making me go bananas!

sour grapes

This expression originates from Aesop's The Fox and The Grapes, and refers to envious behaviour. When you can't get something that someone else has, you pretend that you don't have any interest for it and you say bad things about it: Zahara says she doesn't like my new shoes, but I think it's just a case of sour grapes.

another bite (or a second bite) at the cherry

another chance: He failed his sixth driving test, but he's practising hard now for another bite at the cherry.

rotten apple

This refers to a bad person who influences others so that they become bad, too: Watch out for that tall blond boy over there; he's the rotten apple of the neighbourhood.

lemon

You refer to something you buy as a lemon when it doesn't work satisfactorily: I paid 2,000€ for this car, but after 3 days, I realised that I'd bought myself a lemon.

Okey-dokey, now you're ready to beat the record at the fruit idiom game! Click on the fruit image above to begin the game. Although it isn't necessary, registration at Purpose Games will allow you to keep track of your scores. Have fun!

Be sure to check out the rest in this series. Go to the index file and search (ctrl F) for 'Idioms'.