the apple doesn't fall far from the tree
1
5.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
de tal palo, tal astilla
- Of course, all my friends say, "With a mother like you, what can you expect?" or, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
- say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree
Examples
-
I've seen the videos of your son; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?
Blog text (4) -
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Academic text (1999) -
"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!" Matthew chimed in.
Fiction book (2000) -
Parents are backing up their disrespectful kids, but it's no big surprise that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Blog text (18) -
The father struck me as a very thoughtful, humane, and dedicated person, and I'm hoping the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Blog text (18) -
You know what they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
-
As the old saying goes, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
-
I've seen the videos of your son; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?
Synonyms
A daughter who behaves like her mother
Antonyms
How Similar
Surface Forms
Morphology
the + apple + doesn't + fall + far + from + the + tree
The proverb creates a clear, literal image (an apple falling near its tree) that maps directly onto the idea that offspring resemble their origin, so a learner who knows 'apple', 'fall', 'far' and 'tree' can infer the intended meaning. This physical-origin-to-descendant metaphor is common across languages and uses straightforward compositional logic, making the expression readily understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree comes from the simple image of an apple dropping close to the tree that grew it: the apple stays near the tree. That's why people use it to say that children are often like their parents, 'they are similar in personality or looks'.