What is the idiom meaning of Have a tape worm inside? Than that he should ruin all the servants in the place.”) Before you accuse the entire department of wrongdoing, you should try to find the rotten apple that initially caused the problem. 2004, "The outrage was over the photographs, because the photographs were living color of what those top-secret memorandums authorized," [Retired Army Col. Janis] Karpinski said in an interview Wednesday. "No, it came from twisted values and atrocious policies at the highest levels of our government," he said. 'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'. 'All Intensive Purposes' or 'All Intents and Purposes'? — Jonathan Mahler, The New York Times Book Review, 29 July 2007. O’Brien is far from the first person to get the expression wrong. iGrenadeon June 03, 2006 Link. a rotten apple A person whose own words or actions negatively impacts an entire group of people. It's just the way language naturally develops.". "So, it is unfair ... the soldiers may have moved through [the military justice] system, but they never had a fair court-martial. one bad person in a group of people who are good. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. My nephew looks exactly like his father, and he behaves like … violent misconduct by officers during protests, when placed together, they do indeed spoil the others, MORE: Man dies after being shot by Atlanta police at Wendy's, GBI investigating, "One Bad Apple (Don't Spoil the Whole Bunch, Girl),", MORE: 2 more Atlanta officers fired after students pulled from car, A published study by University of Washington, MORE: Buffalo police officers suspended after shoving 75-year-old protester. Learn more. It's a proverb whose meaning has changed 180 degrees from its origins, according to Ben Zimmer, a linguist and language columnist for The Wall Street Journal. — Sumathi Reddy, The Baltimore Sun, 1 Aug. 2006. No Replies Log in to reply +3. Delivered to your inbox! "It's difficult to say, 'Well, you are using it the wrong way,'" Zimmer said. It is ful lasse harm to lete hym pace. Submitted on July 10, 2018. "It's basically saying, 'Well, don't worry, it's fine,'" Zimmer said. The proverb was rephrased by Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanack in 1736, stating "the rotten apple spoils his companion." Than he shende alle the servantz in the place. ... A rotten apple. Meanwhile, many nervous citizens are calling for a federal takeover of the cops. Have you heard the proverb "One rotten apple spoils the barrel"? A bad apple is generally understood to refer to someone who creates problems for other people, and whose actions or behaviors negatively influence the larger group. The saying turned up frequently in 19th-century sermons as a warning to stay away from sinners because they tended to be corrupting influences. Idiom Definition - rotten apple - a bad (or morally questionable) person within a group of good individuals, who might corrupt the entire group Do you know these earlier meanings of words? In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary has the earliest English use of “rotten apple” to mean “a bad person who has the potential to corrupt others” appearing in the year 1340 in a book called “ Ayenbite of Inwyt .”. Example: Jimmy is the rotten apple that spoils the barrel in my class, I wish I didn’t have to be his teacher all year. How to use bad apple in a sentence. Bad apple was invoked regularly in 2004 by media and public figures as part of the dialogue surrounding the George W. Bush Administration’s response to accusations of torture of prisoners imposed by American soldiers at Abu Ghraib. And they need to be rooted out, because there's a few bad apples that are giving law enforcement a terrible name. Popular culture might have played a role in spreading confusion about the metaphor. Apple Pie Order. Use In A Sentence: Jack keeps all … A senior U.S. official said Thursday that Sanchez was surprised by the severity of the abuses and the apparent lack of response by the military police unit's officers. One bad apple became a few bad apples as the phrase slowly became a defense for a few rogue cops.