Apples-to-apples

Apples-to-apples

Today’s expression is extremely common in English; I almost can’t believe I haven’t selected it before. The expression is “apples-to-apples,” and it has an opposite, which is “apples-to-oranges.” We use this expression when we’re making comparisons. Comparisons are most useful when you are comparing two like items. If you compare two items that are basically similar, you’re comparing apples to apples. But when you try to make a comparison between two things that are fundamentally different, you’re making an apples-to-oranges comparison, and that’s generally not good.

Let me give you an example. Which is a better place for vacation, Paris or the Turks and Caicos Islands? That’s not really an apples-to-apples comparison. Which has better art? Paris. Which has better beaches? The Turks and Caicos. Which has better croissants? Paris. Which has better sunsets? Turks and Caicos. Is this comparison useful at all? No. It’s an apples-to-oranges comparison. We’re trying to compare two fundamentally unlike things.

If you have one day in Paris, should you visit the Louvre or the Musee D’Orsay? Now this is an apples-to-apples comparison. Both are world-class museums with unforgettable masterpieces. They’re not exactly the same, but it’s at least a meaningful comparison.

Here’s another example. Which pizza do I prefer: Papa John’s or Spacca Napoli? Papa John’s is my favorite American chain pizza restaurant. They offer American-style pizza for a cheap price. Papa John’s has 5,000 locations in 45 countries. Spacca Napoli has one location in the whole world; it’s on Ravenswood Avenue in Chicago and they make Neapolitan-style personal pizzas. It’s my favorite sit-down pizza restaurant.

But which is better? This is an apples-to-oranges comparison. Yes, Papa John’s makes pizza and Spacca Napoli makes pizza. I like them both, for different reasons. But you can’t ask me to compare the two. I mean, I guess I like Spacca Napoli better, but it costs five times more and they don’t deliver until midnight! It’s an apples-to-oranges comparison; it’s not really a useful discussion.

But I could compare Papa John’s pizza to Dominos and Pizza Hut. Those three chains are not all the same; there are differences. But the comparison is among like items; the comparison is at least meaningful. That would be an apples-to-apples comparison.

Here’s one more. Should you get a Hyundai or a Toyota? Imagine you’re trying to decide between the Hyundai Santa Fe and a Toyota RAV4, both smaller SUVs. Your friend just bought a new RAV4 and is going to let you drive it. But your friend’s a little bit of a cheapskate and he bought the lowest-cost model with no options. So imagine you drive it, and it’s good, but not great.

Now let’s say you go to the Hyundai dealership and they let you test drive the Hyundai Santa Fe. But the car they let you drive has all the options included; every upgrade imaginable is included on the version you drive. It has the fast engine, heated steering wheel, upgraded sound system—the whole works. At the end of the test drive, you think, gosh, I really thought the Santa Fe was better.

And maybe it is. But you haven’t made an apples-to-apples comparison. You compared the worst version of the RAV4 with the best version of the Santa Fe. No wonder you liked the Santa Fe better!

So now let’s think back to how you heard it in the first part of today’s lesson. Governments try to compare prices of the same goods from period to period to measure inflation , the increase in the general level of prices. So let’s pretend that a night at a typical Marriott hotel cost $200 in 2021 and $220 in 2022. That sounds like a 10 percent increase in cost to me. The government might factor this 10 percent increase into its overall inflation calculations.

But let’s pretend that sometime between 2021 and 2022, the typical Marriott hotel stopped offering daily housekeeping. And let’s pretend that the typical Marriott hotel started adding a 5 percent “sustainability” fee to the bill. And let’s pretend they canceled the shuttle to the airport, which used to be free.

When you compare the headline price from 2021 to 2022, are you making an apples-to-apples comparison? I would argue that you are not. I would argue that the $200 room included an airport shuttle, daily housekeeping, and had no extra fees, whereas the $220 room did not have an airport shuttle, did not have daily housekeeping, and had an extra fee. So I would argue that prices went up by more than 10 percent, since you’re not making an apples-to-apples comparison.

To be fair, government economists know this and they do try to account for the changes in package size, service quality, and bundles. Government economists would know, for example, that the hotel room comparison is apples-to-oranges. They try to make adjustments in the numbers so that they are making an apples-to-apples comparison. But I have a feeling that the world’s big companies can invent new ways to increase prices faster than economists can track them.

JR’s song of the week

Today’s song of the week is “Alewife” by Clairo. This song appears in the HBO Max series called “Mare of Easttown.” The song is about someone having a really hard time and a friend supporting her. It fits with the show, which is about a town in the state of Pennsylvania that has really struggled with a lot of issues.

Actually, “Easttown” is a fictionalized version of Easton, Pennsylvania, which is close to where I went to college. The landscapes in that town are really pretty; in many ways, it’s a great place to live. But as you can see from the show, there are a lot of challenges to towns like that. JR recommended the show to me, and I like it so far. I definitely recommend it.

“Alewife” by Clairo is the song of the week.

See you next time!

By the way, we don’t employ any of these secret price-raising tactics at Plain English. We could start charging for JR’s song of the week, maybe like a 10-cent surcharge for listening to every Thursday lesson. It would be worth it for an expertly-curated song suggestion every week—we could absolutely charge for that, but we’re holding the line. We’re not doing that.

In fact, Plain English Plus+ members will never get a price increase. Sure, maybe down the line I’ll raise prices. But if you join today—and today it’s $19 per month—if you join today, your price will stay the same. Forever. It’s not like Netflix, where they politely email you that they’ll be charging your credit card for more next month, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Not at all. If you join Plain English Plus+ , you will always pay the price you join at.

So if you’re worried about the price going up—don’t worry. Just join today, you can always pause it later if you need to, but the price will never go up. PlainEnglish.com/Plus is where you can go to sign up and lock in today’s price forever, which really is a bargain.

All right, that’s all for today’s lesson. We’ll be back on Monday with another lesson set just for you. See you then.