> Here are some expressions my more rural relatives use:
>
> "I haven't seen you since Hector was a pup!" (I don't get this one. Something about the Odyssey, I think.)
>

Heh. The one phrase that I always forget to ask about is, "Sure as God made little green apples." It's strange. Just WHAT is so certain about having wild apples or crabapples or whatever?

The fruit which is called an 'apple' (tappuach) in the Bible (as in, "the fragrant fruit of the apple tree"; or "the apple of His eye") does not refer to the orchard fruit which we know as an apple. Apple trees are of purely North American origin. The 'apple' in Scripture has to be the small but golden 2" fruit of the quince tree.