Kincaid microfiction "Goodbye"

[morriswalters]

Harry might tell you that not everything involves magic.  And not all magic involves fallen angels.

[Mira]

Harry might tell you that not everything involves magic.  And not all magic involves fallen angels.

Very true, but this is kind of apples and oranges argument, both are fruit, but they are not the same, in my opinion.  I believe you when you say you hear your mother's voice sometimes and you are not a wizard, I've experienced that as well.  Having said that, Harry is a wizard, his mother was a wizard, and he did have the shadow of a fallen angel in his brain for a number of years.

[Arjan]

Humans are evolved to err in certain directions. That shadow there can be a predator. False positives might cost you some energy. False negatives cost lives.

If Harry hears a voice in his head of course it is some demonic influence.

[Mira]

Humans are evolved to err in certain directions. That shadow there can be a predator. False positives might cost you some energy. False negatives cost lives.

If Harry hears a voice in his head of course it is some demonic influence.

  Unless it is his Id, but given some of his questionable suggestions, he might be a demonic influence as well.   Hell, that might be what it means to be a wizard.

[Bad Alias]

this is kind of apples and oranges argument

I've never gotten that saying. Shouldn't we compare apples to oranges? They're both fruit that are common, made into juice, grow on a tree, are often fed to children as a snack, spherical, and probably other things too.

[morriswalters]

I've never gotten that saying. Shouldn't we compare apples to oranges? They're both fruit that are common, made into juice, grow on a tree, are often fed to children as a snack, spherical, and probably other things too.

I'll answer when you tell me which of the two make better orange juice.

[g33k]

I've never gotten that saying. Shouldn't we compare apples to oranges? They're both fruit that are common, made into juice, grow on a tree, are often fed to children as a snack, spherical, and probably other things too.

But -- as fruit go -- they are quite different, particularly when you ask, "what makes a good <X>" where X is either apple or orange.  The idea isn't how wholly-dissimilar they are, but whether you can judge an orange by the qualities of good-appleness, or an apple by the qualities of good-orangeness.

Do you want your orange to be rather crispy and hard?  Do you hope your apple has a tart/tangy bite alongside the sweetness?  Do you look forward to a nice slice of Orange Pie?  Etc.

[Mira]

I've never gotten that saying. Shouldn't we compare apples to oranges? They're both fruit that are common, made into juice, grow on a tree, are often fed to children as a snack, spherical, and probably other things too.

  However you know when you see them, taste them, smell them, they are quite different.  Now
apples to Asian pears might be a little more difficult to tell apart for some.

[Bad Alias]

I much prefer the foreign idioms in Wikipedia article Morris linked to such as "the grandmother and the machine gun." Those are two things that really should be beyond comparison. Further I agree with the scientific studies in the article that apples and oranges are highly comparable.

[Mira]

I much prefer the foreign idioms in Wikipedia article Morris linked to such as "the grandmother and the machine gun." Those are two things that really should be beyond comparison. Further I agree with the scientific studies in the article that apples and oranges are highly comparable.

  Comparable, but not the same..  It may be a small matter of a gene or two, but that is what sets us apart as much as it makes us one.. 

[Bad Alias]

  Comparable, but not the same..  It may be a small matter of a gene or two on the strand of lifel, but that is what sets us apart as much as it makes us one.. 

The point of the saying is that they aren't comparable. And that's why I've never gotten the saying. Apples and oranges are highly comparable. Grandmothers and machine guns are, hopefully, not very comparable.

[morriswalters]

The point of the saying is that they aren't comparable. And that's why I've never gotten the saying. Apples and oranges are highly comparable. Grandmothers and machine guns are, hopefully, not very comparable.

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.

This is the use you will see most, particularly in online forums. Thus me posting

I'll answer when you tell me which of the two make better orange juice.

[Bad Alias]

I'm not sure I've ever actually use it that way. When I see it, it's usually pretty clearly "those two things aren't anything alike." There are a lot of common sayings and words that I see used improperly more often than properly. Ever sense Jim pointed out decimates meaning and misuse, I haven't stopped seeing people misuse it.

[Mira]

The point of the saying is that they aren't comparable. And that's why I've never gotten the saying. Apples and oranges are highly comparable. Grandmothers and machine guns are, hopefully, not very comparable.

  Actually it isn't,  that is the whole point, yes, you can compare them as fruit, there are a lot of things apples and oranges have in common, but at the same time they are not the same.   Where as grandmothers and machine guns have nothing in common.   So a vanilla human sometimes hearing his mother's voice has a lot in common with a wizard hearing his, they are not the same.

[Arjan]

In both cases I would err on the safe side and sacrifice a goat to the spirit of my dead mother. You never know.