Apples/Afalau.

[zetlander]

Last night heard my mother talking on the phone (land-line!) to her friend.  She was talking about her neighbour who is often drunk and noisy - she was saying how alike the neighbour was to his father and grandfather.
Then she said 'Dydi'r afal ddim yn disgyn yn bell o'r goeden.'   which transaltes to 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.'

Do familial characteristics - good or bad appear in one generation after another ? if they do is a hereditary thing or a 'learnt' thing?

[Maiden Stone]

The apple saying is an old one.
There was a discussion on nature v nurture on here not long ago, begun, I think, by you.
The question is impossible to answer in the particular example you mention.