Upset the Apple Cart / Applecart

What was said? We don’t want to upset the apple cart by changing the time of our workshop…

Did someone really say that? Yes, a team member said it in a meeting… then it was repeated two more times that very day!

What does it mean? It means to cause trouble, upset things or create difficulty… especially by spoiling someone’s plans.

Origin:  There are a roughly four variations of the origin of this phrase….

1. This phrase is first recorded by Jeremy Belknap in The History of New Hampshire, 1788: “Adams had almost overset the apple-cart by intruding an amendment of his own fabrication on the morning of the day of ratification” [of the Constitution].

2. According to another source, the original intent was to throw a man down. In the early to late 1800s “apple cart” was wrestlers’ slang for the body and “down with his apple cart” was to throw a man down.

3. Alternatively, some say the concept originated with the Romans who had a similar expression “Perii, plaustrum perculi” – “I am undone, I have upset my cart.”

4. Most basic / generic understanding: It generally refers to farmers in the  1800s would bring applecarts loaded with neatly piled, fresh apples for sale. Along comes a clumsy person who knocks over the cart, spilling all the apples.The farmer’s plan to sell the apples is in turn, “spoiled”.

Sources:

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/upset+the+applecart

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/118400.html

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Upset%20The%20Applecart

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_meaning_of_the_idiom_’upset_the_apple_cart’

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_origin_of_the_idiom_’Upset_the_Applecart’

http://englishfromfriends.com/blog/2010/06/23/upset-the-applecart/ 

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