From various sources on Facebook, but most directly from Engrish.com:
A pun on mandarin, and an allusion to the idiom comparing apples and oranges.
The pun. Mandarin Chinese and the Mandarin orange. On the fruit, from Wikipedia:
The Mandarin orange, also known as the mandarin or mandarine (both lower-case), is a small citrus tree (Citrus reticulata) with fruit resembling other oranges. Some sources indicate that the original Japanese orange imported into North America became known as the “Mandarin orange” as a result of hostilities during World War II. Other sources indicate that they gained their names from the bright orange robes worn by the mandarins, public officials in imperial China. Mandarin oranges are usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Specifically reddish-orange mandarin cultivars can be marketed as tangerines, but this is not a botanical classification.
The idiom. From Wikipedia:
A comparison of apples and oranges occurs when two items or groups of items are compared that cannot be practically compared.
The idiom, comparing apples and oranges, refers to the apparent differences between items which are popularly thought to be incomparable or incommensurable, such as apples and oranges. The idiom may also be used to indicate that a false analogy has been made between two items, such as where an apple is faulted for not being a good orange.
The idiom has been the source of many cartoons. For instance, this Pigs Incorporated of 2/25/11:
April 28, 2013 at 10:39 pm |
From William Steed on Facebook:
July 7, 2014 at 6:55 am |
Thank you, Arnold. That`s a good illustration of the idiom.