apples to oranges

apples to oranges

A comparison of two unlike things or people. Oh, you can't compare those two companies, that's apples to oranges.
See also: apple, orange
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

apples to oranges

and A2O
phr. & comp. abb. [but that’s comparing] apples to oranges; [You are] making an unfair comparison. Chevvies and Beemers! That’s apples to oranges! They’re not even in the same class! It’s A2O! What can I say?
See also: apple, orange
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • A2O
  • compare apples to oranges
  • apples and oranges
  • in two
  • at each other's throats
  • be at each other's throats
  • chalk and cheese
  • battle of the giants
  • cling together
  • come together
References in periodicals archive
The discrepancies between what industry perceives and what visitors want may be evident to some, but for fishing and hunting lodge owners, who make up 88 per cent of the 150 respondents participating in the industry survey, the two reports are like trying to compare "apples to oranges," Greaves says.
But this is like comparing apples to oranges. Because of widespread environmental degradation and what is viewed as an impending energy crisis, Our perspective is that the world can't afford not to go green." With this perspective, the homeowners have embraced these ideals and created for themselves a sustainably built and self-sufficient home.
I take issue with this, because the two shows are like comparing apples to oranges.
"Many companies, when they investigate replacing a boiler, are only concerned with the end cost and they find themselves comparing apples to oranges," according to Mortman.
As the Supreme Court realized, once judges start scrutinizing every law that burdens religion, looking for a compelling interest to justify it, they are forced to compare apples to oranges, worldly ends to spiritual imperatives.
They say you can't compare apples to oranges. Well, now you can, thanks to new scan data on produce from Information Resources Inc.
Most were eventually resolved and blamed either on poorly worded surveys that resulted in "comparing apples to oranges" or poor internal communication (as one university spokesperson explained, "one office not communicating with another").