# What is the antonym idiom of "Low Hanging Fruit"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 13, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623 "2019-08-13T19:32:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/21 "2019-08-13T22:22:55Z")
“Like squeezing blood from a turnip.” “The juice isn’t worth the squeeze.” And, for something that doesn’t involve a squeeze… “The last mile.” (though that’s most appropriate for those familiar with shipping problems or supply chain management) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/22 "2019-08-13T22:29:36Z")
Speaking of squeezing, how about “Squeezing the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube”? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/23 "2019-08-13T22:35:33Z")
I feel that low hanging fruit are goals that are very easy to achieve. So I feel the opposite would be goals which are very hard to achieve, which is why I suggested reaching for the stars. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/24 "2019-08-13T22:48:31Z")
But all fruit is equal. Low-hanging fruit yields as much reward as fruit high up on the tree (theoretically, I’m sure someone who picks a lot of fruit will beg to differ) but the effort required to achieve that reward is least for the low-hanging fruit. It’s not just that some goals are easier than others, but that the ratio of return to risk/effort/time/what-have-you is greater for some simply by virtue of their being easier to accomplish. Low-hanging fruit. So the opposite of that, in my opinion, would be something that yields the same sort of return as an alternative source of reward, but requires considerably more effort. ---
**Author:** ![EdelweissPirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@EdelweissPirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdelweissPirate)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/25 "2019-08-13T23:03:33Z")
The problem with expressions like “blood from a turnip” and the “last toothpaste in the tube” is that they describe trying to achieve something that’s almost certainly impossible and/or not all that desirable in the first place. Low-hanging fruit are certainly desirable—they’re just easy to acquire. If you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel, you’re getting dregs, which are no one’s first choice. As others have pointed out, a lot of this hinges on how we define “opposite.” Is the opposite of “desirable and easily achieved,” “undesirable and hard to achieve” or “desirable and hard to achieve?” The OP mentioned that the phrase “high-hanging fruit,” while awkward, captures the desired sentiment. So it seems (to me, at least) that the OP is going for a phrase describing something desirable but not easily won. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/26 "2019-08-13T23:06:55Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Since “low-hanging fruit” implies obtaining something after minimal effort, its antonym should indicate a goal achieved after maximal effort. Holy Grail. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/27 "2019-08-14T02:55:13Z")
Scaling Everest? ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/28 "2019-08-14T04:27:10Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Speaking of squeezing, how about “Squeezing the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube”? Best antonym pairing so far: low-hanging fruit [easy pickings for high yield] \<–\> the last toothpaste in the tube [lots of effort for little worth]. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/29 "2019-08-14T04:29:05Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Low !/$ (pronounced “low bang for buck”) > > “Low hanging fruit” doesn’t mean “easy”; it means improvements that have a high rate of return compared to their investment. “Moonshot” doesn’t fit–that was a big return for a big investment. **am77494** suggestions are more accurate in that they refer to those things you save for last, because you’ve run out of things with a better return. The smallest return-to-effort ratio is going for what you can’t have, but while that’s an idiom it’s a literal one. A related one is the forbidden fruit: going for what you can have but it’s going to be complicated and the cost will be much higher than you first thought (not that Adam and Eve had it very difficult to actually reach the fruit, but they did pay a high price for it). ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/30 "2019-08-14T04:30:39Z")
Hard nut to crack. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/31 "2019-08-14T04:32:50Z")
I’ve got it! “High-falling rock-poison.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/32 "2019-08-14T04:37:41Z")
In Spanish I’ve heard _a tí sólo te gusta Doña Inés_, “you only like Doña Inés”: the novice Doña Inés is the single one of the many women wooed by Don Juan Tenorio with whom he actually falls in love, but he is unable to truly do the right thing (being too used to finish any relationship once he’s gotten his prey) and destroys both their lives. Note that there are an absurd amount of versions of Don Juan, he’s probably the Spanish equivalent of Romeo and Juliet in terms of international appeal; people know Don Quijote but he gets mentioned, not reused. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/33 "2019-08-14T12:09:32Z")
“Reach for the Moon”, or, my favorite mixed metaphor, “Rocket Surgery”. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/34 "2019-08-14T13:07:14Z")
Let’s go for the low hanging fruit and put the rest on the back burner. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/35 "2019-08-14T13:22:53Z")
“Stretch goal” may be another relevant phrase. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/36 "2019-08-14T14:35:00Z")
Low hanging fruit as a metaphor means you walk through the orchard and can simply pick it hanging in your face - you don’t have to stretch, climb trees, etc. Maximum reward for minimum effort. I’ve seen this mentioned in task analysis as similar to the Pareto Principle’s biggest item - if you can fix 80% of your problems with one effort, then you can quickly improve your statistics. But then, the fixes for the next 20% of problems will not yield as big an improvement as easily. These are the hard bits. the ones you really have to work for. You have to get the step ladder, keep moving it, and only get a few fruit with each trip up the ladder. This would be tough slogging, the last mile, buried treasure (depending on the payoff). I’ll agree “scraping the bottom of the barrel” is a good idiom. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/37 "2019-08-14T15:09:12Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > The term “moonshot” is used more colloquially. Meaning a project that is hard to do with a chance of success that is far from 100%. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Reach for the stars. These two can be combined into one saying: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” - Norman Vincent Peale However, if one is landing among stars, that would suggest that one has landed nowhere near one’s target, the Moon. ---
**Author:** ![Frankenstein\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@Frankenstein\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankenstein_Monster)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/38 "2019-08-14T16:27:58Z")
I think the Dutch expression “laatste loodjes” nicely expresses the opposite of low hanging fruit. Translated [here](https://context.reverso.net/translation/dutch-english/laatste+loodjes) as the “home stretch” ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/39 "2019-08-14T16:38:26Z")
“Low hanging fruit” is a noun. The opposite must be a noun too. It refers to the easiest part of a project, usually done first. The opposite would be the parts that are the most out of reach and difficult, but that must be accomplished for the project. So it’s more specific than being difficult. If I was speaking I might use the term " the beast" for it. “I’m going for the low hanging fruit this week, leaving the beast for later.” Also people used to say “the bitch” to refer to it. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623/40 "2019-08-14T16:55:15Z")
“Sour Grapes” > **[The Fox and the Grapes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes)** > > The Fox and the Grapes is one of Aesop's fables, numbered 15 in the Perry Index. The narration is concise and subsequent retellings have often been equally so. The story concerns a fox that tries to eat grapes from a vine but cannot reach them. Rather than admit defeat, he states they are undesirable. The expression "sour grapes" originated from this fable. > The fable of The Fox and the Grapes is one of the few which feature only a single animal protagonist. There are several Greek versions as w... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-antonym-idiom-of-low-hanging-fruit/838623.md?page=3)