• ToastedRavioli@midwest.social
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    1 day ago

    It actually derives from the phrase “the rotten apple quickly spoils his companion”, which is more to your point

    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 day ago

      The version I heard from my grandparents always had the phrase ‘bunch’ in it, as a group noun.

      But, apparently, there are old variants that use ‘neighbor’, ‘companion’, ‘bunch’ and ‘barrel’.