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The meaning and origin of the expression: Apple pie order

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Apple pie order

Meaning

Tidy and well-ordered.

Origin

The phrase may originate from the French 'nappes pliees' = neatly folded, or from 'cap-a-pie order'. There's no definitive evidence to support this and the origin remains uncertain.

It is recorded first in English in Sir Thomas Pasley's Private Sea Journals, 1780:

"Their Persons Clean and in apple-Pie order on Sundays."
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