Am I dreaming or was the original expression "One bad apple can spoil the whole barrel"? If so, then how did we get to the linguistic point where defensive officials use "a few bad apples" to mean that an institution is fundamentally sound and that any cases of wrongdoing are ('nother cliche) "isolated incidents"? Does anyone else have the impression that this second meaning for the expression came into use during the post-Rodney King debate over reform of the LAPD?
Posted by Martha Bridegam at March 25, 2006 08:55 PMLexisNexis cites 154 uses of the phrase "a few bad apples" between 1978 and 1990.
e.g. "it was only a few bad apples who gave Maryland such a foul nationwide reputation [for political corruption]" - Washington Post, April 4, 1978.
"In other countries, the escapade might have been dismissed as the work of a few bad apples" - WaPo, March 23, 1980.
"Collins said there might be "a few bad apples in every barrel," but that the industry works to eliminate them" - WaPo, May 19, 1980.
Posted by: Alan Allport at March 26, 2006 04:58 PMThanks. So much for my Rodney King theory then. But why, then, do people persist in using the expression this way? Aren't they familiar with the contagious effect of literal bad apples in a literal barrel?
Posted by: Martha Bridegam at March 26, 2006 05:12 PMProbably for the same reason that people "could care less".
Posted by: Ben Brumfield at March 27, 2006 06:42 AM