“Forbidden fruit” – you want it because you shouldn’t have it!

Isn’t it interesting how something which is prohibited or off-limits has a certain attraction or allure to us?

In English, we call such a thing “forbidden fruit”.   In time, you are certain to hear that phrase and will wonder what it means.

“Forbidden fruit” is something which you are not supposed to have.  It is either illegal, immoral, or just plain bad for you.

The phrase “forbidden fruit” comes to us from the Bible, from the Book of Genesis.   When God created Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, he placed a tree in  the Garden of Eden to test them.  The term “forbidden fruit” is not directly quoted from the Bible, but the concept certainly is.

The tree was called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  If they ate from the tree, God told them that they would die.

Satan approached Eve in the form of a snake and tempted her to eat the forbidden fruit.  The Bible described it as “a delight to the eyes” and that she took the fruit and ate.   This is how sin entered the world and why mankind has so many problems.

So the next time you hear the phrase “forbidden fruit” you know the background and why things which are not allowed are often attractive.

Examples: “When I started a high-protein diet, anything with carbohydrates became even more desirable because it was forbidden fruit.”

“Jessica was certainly very attractive to Bart, but the company’s policy against dating co-workers made her forbidden fruit.”

Give it a try.   Use “forbidden fruit” in a sentence in the comment section.  I’ll let you know how you did.

Is there a way to say “forbidden fruit” in Chinese?

VOCABULARY

• allure – attractiveness, to entice by attraction.
• carbohydrate – foods which contain starch or sugar: examples would be rice, noodles, and bread.
• off-limits – something that is forbidden
• illegal – something which is against the law
• immoral – something which is wrong behavior.
• prohibit – to forbid something.
• protein –  foods such as meat, milk, eggs, and beans contain a substance called protein.

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