Question

Rotten Apple Spoils the Barrel one bad person or thing may spoil an entire group

Accepted Answer

A tiny group of kids starts fights in our school, and people think that one rotten apple spoils the barrel. Benjamin Franklin included this saying in his Poor Richard's Almanack in 1736, but it goes all the way back to the mid-1500s. It is true that if you allow one apple in a barrel to rot, it may rot the other apples. Rottenness sometimes spreads. This thought has been transferred to people. One dishonest individual in a group can sometimes corrupt others.

Idiom	Rotten Apple Spoils the Barrel
Example	A tiny group of kids starts fights in our school, and people think that one rotten apple spoils the barrel.
Meaning	one bad person or thing may spoil an entire group
Origin	Benjamin Franklin included this saying in his Poor Richard's Almanack in 1736, but it goes all the way back to the mid-1500s. It is true that if you allow one apple in a barrel to rot, it may rot the other apples. Rottenness sometimes spreads. This thought has been transferred to people. One dishonest individual in a group can sometimes corrupt others.

Apple Barrel Group Rotten Spoils Tiny Kids Starts