Which is right, "bananas and apples" or "apples and bananas" or both?

My English teacher just asked us to write a random sentence in English.

Off the top of my head I wrote "I like to eat apples and bananas".

She highlighted "apples" and said: "man, this is blatantly wrong".

"Uh, what's wrong, M'am?"

"It should be bananas and apples. English people always enumerate things in reverse alphabetical order. Always. Just like when they enumerate parts of the body, they always converge to the heart. Always. We do that automatically, without even thinking about it. Not doing it is wrong".

Granted, I'm not a native speaker, but I've never heard anything like this before.

Bullshit or what?

Solution 1:

I think your teacher is either "full of it" or "misinformed"

While it may be true that in English we usually enumerate parts of the body from the outside in, I'd suspect it has more to do with creating a physical starting point that is furthest from our eyes and looking for a way to create a list without forgetting something. I doubt this is limited to English, but is more of a "human" thing.

For random objects, I'd suspect people probably sort from easiest to recall to most difficult, or from most to least favorite, from biggest to smallest, by what sounds right or just randomly... or according to a set phrase, rhyme or song that's established culturally.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

It's raining cats and dogs

strawberry rhubarb pie

They fight like cats and dogs

They're playing a game of cat and mouse

I'll have a ham and cheese sandwich

Would you like some cheese and crackers?

I'm having a wine and cheese party

I feel like a rum and coke

I'll take a Coke and Lime

In some of those examples, the more important element is stated first, but in many, the order has been established naturally, with less importance to order. Saying that, I'm sure there are certain patterns you could find based on how things sound together, or how many syllables there are... but the opposite is not wrong.

Solution 2:

There are many word pairs that are usually stated in certain orders. Using them in the uncommon order is not necessarily wrong but it sounds odd.

Good and Evil

Apples and Oranges

Men and Women

Ladies and Gentlemen

I think you just have to memorize the order for each possible pair. Your teacher's assertion that the pairs have to be in reverse alphabetical order is simply false.

As for organizing the body parts by direction, I don't think people follow specific rules. I would probably start at the top and work my way down. I can't see how converging in the middle would help unless you also have to go clockwise or counter-clockwise.