The idiom “upset the applecart” is used when someone disrupts or disturbs or spoils an arrangement or a plan, or disrupts the established order. It usually refers to an act of interference or some event that defeats expectations or creates chaos.
The idiom is usually applied in a context where planning has been interrupted. An example of that is, perhaps, introducing some controversial idea at a meeting where that is not wanted in which case the person introducing it would be upsetting the applecart, creating conflict or disrupting the agenda.
In the personal context, a visitor who arrives unexpectedly during what may otherwise be a planned quiet evening would be upsetting the applecart. The idiom uses evocative imagery. A carefully packed applecart suggests balance and order, and upsetting it suggests chaos, loss of control, and waste.
Those affected by the upsetting of the applecart are usually frustrated or annoyed. That simple image has given rise over time to the more literal meaning of disorder in political social or personal contexts and has continued to be a vivid expression of unexpected upheaval.
The origin of the idiom “upset the applecart”
The idiom, “upset the Apple cart”, originated in agricultural life with carts that were laden with apples commonly seen. Taken literally, the upsetting of an apple cart would result in the spilling of apples that would run all over the place into ditches and fields and would represent waste produce and cause significant effort to collect them, to restore order.
Early references go all the way back to Roman times with a similar proverb perri plaustrom perculi which means “I am undone, I have overturned my cot.” The fact is that the idiom’s meaning of disruption has been in the culture for several centuries. The English form, to upset the applecart, became prominent in the late 18th and early 19 centuries. It probably became popular in English because of its simple and evocative imagery. It has since that time remained a common and much used idiomatic expression, where it has moved from personal use to politics and business.
The Shakespeare connection
Shakespeare did not use the phrase “upset the apple cart” but his works are full of similar metaphors, and disruption and disorder are two of his main themes:
In Julius Caesar for example the upheaval that Caesar’s assassination caused could be seen as upsetting the applecart in Rome and leading to chaos.
In Macbeth the protagonist’s ambition to take hold of the crown disrupts the natural order, which is another parallel with this idiom. Shakespeare also uses a great deal of agricultural and domestic imagery which signals larger social or moral disruptions.
Such a phrase as “hoist with his own petard” in Hamlet and “the wheel has come full circle” in King Lear are expressions of unexpected outcomes and the overturning of planned order. Although there is no direct link between Shakespeare and the idiom his works resound with disruption of order and unintended chaos.
The idiom “upset the applecart” in the media
The idiom “upset the applecart” is widely used in the media, including film literature, advertising and other media. It is used in those contexts to symbolise disruption or unexpected change. The themes it embraces are often those of rebellion or the collapse of carefully made plans. In Animal Farm by George Orwell the animal’s rebellion against the farmers are in fact upsetting the applecart of social norms. In Jane Austin’s Emma, Emma’s meddling in the affairs of other people disrupts their relationships and their plans. That is also an embodiment of the idiom’s essence.
Journalists use the phrase in blogs and newspapers to describe events that challenge the status quo. Reforms, economic upheavals and revolutions are often referred to as factors that upset the applecart. Films like The Godfather depict characters who upset the applecart by rebelling against family traditions or criminal codes
The vivid image of an applecart being upset ensures that it will have enduring appeal, making it a metaphor for all the unexpected twists and turns of human life and human ambitions.
Upset the apple cart
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