Have you all seen Good Will Hunting? You know that scene near the beginning where Matt Damon embarrasses Mr. Harvard Man and gets Minnie Driver’s number? For those of you who don’t, here’s how it goes:
[Matt Damon sees Mr. Harvard Man sitting at the window in a coffee shop and knocks on the window.]
Matt Damon: Do you like apples?
Mr. Harvard Man: What?
Matt Damon: Do you like apples?
Mr. Harvard Man:: Uh… yes…
[Matt Damon shows Mr. Harvard Man Minnie Driver's number on a piece of paper]
Matt Damon (In a bad Bostonian accent): I got her numbah! How do you like them apples??
Everyone in the Audience but Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Now explain to me: why is that scene funny? I don’t understand! Everyone always says how great that scene is, and yet nobody I’ve talked to can explain to me why “How do you like them apples” is funny and what it means. I think it’s one of those things that everyone claims is funny just because everyone else does, but doesn’t really understand.
apple = boobs. At least that’s how I interpreted it.
“How do you like them apples” is an old slang expression that the older generation is very familiar with. Our equivalent might be “Where’s the beef?” from the Wendy’s commercials. “How do you like them apples” means, “Yeah, I screwed you – how do you like it?”
I like apples, apples are cool, and so are swrods.
I think the expression is older American slang – like “Yahboo sucks” maybe? I found this funny even though I’m not hugely familiar with the phrase. It just works – here’s this guy who is basically an asshole and he’s got one up on him to he springs it on him in a clever way. I guess you have to have some sense of the phrase as a common phrase/cliche for it to work for you though.
How’d'ya like them apples?!!
Did you ever get to the bottom of that saying? From what I can make out “How’d you like dem apples” is American slang for ‘i/we just screwed you’. However I have no idea where it originated. Why for example is it not bananas or oranges?? Indeed why are we limited to fruit? I’d love top know the origination if you found out any more
it’s got something to do with france. isn’t france notorious for it’s apples?
Many English speaking Mexicans have asked me what this meant. They told me they had seen it in other movies too. I responded “como te gustan las manzanas?” I guess this question isn’t only isolated to the USA. I agree that it means “I just screwed you.” But for something stupid you just did. I saw an news article to Bush and Rummsfeld saying how u like them apples? He was referring to the comments they made to other countries and to the US people that he probably wished he hadn’t said now. If someone knows the origin let us know please.
Ever heard the saying, bite the sour apple?
I believe this phrase is a funny implication of decency or censoring in trying to actually say
Hi,
Even i was searching over the web for the phrase “how do you like them apples?” after seeing the good will hunting movie . searching a bit got this information
it could be translated as “do you like balls?… i get her number, lick my balls.”
It’s funny when a Futurama (sp?) episode spoofs it.
In World War I, something called a Stokes gun fired mortars resembling apples with a stick in them, so they were often referred to as Toffee Apples.
In the movie Rio Bravo in 1959, a guy tosses a hand grenade and says “How do ya like them apples?”
I’m guessing like most sayings from back then, it was something guys in the war said as a joke when they tossed grenades into the enemy trenches, as if to imply the enemy would be stupid enough to think grenades are apples. And it took on a different but similar meaning when used stateside – hey a-hole, i just screwed you over big time, how do ya like them apples?
For the record, Matt Damon spent a good part of his childhood in Boston. The accent isn’t fake. It doesn’t even sound fake. I know a bunch of Bostonians and most of them sound just like that.
The phrase also appears in Edward Albee’s “The American Dream”
a lot of new yorkers and some new englanders know what it means. ask one of them. they use it most.
oh and ‘how do you like them apples’ is different from ‘do you like apples’ . how do you like them apples is like the question you ask when you want someone to make up there mind and choose one of two things like sleep on the floor or on the couch.
Why things strike some people as funny is usually hard to explain to others. Look at the great New Yorker cartoons, or why chickens cross roads.
It’s a classic structure. An opening puzzle (apples), a revelation (got the girl, or at least her number), a common metaphorical punch line (success, apples) that brings all together and explains the opening puzzle.
But why is it “funny?” Don’t look too hard for THE ANSWER.
It delights people who’ve approached a pretty girl and been turned down. Or who’ve been annoyed by some rich kid’s snobbery. Or who love Boston accents (Damon’s is just fine), or his charming screen persona. Or some combination of these, and the list goes on.
It’s a matter of personal taste.
Presumably, some people think Gilmore Girls is funny. I don’t know why — and it never occurred to me to ask.
Here’s why it’s funny. “Do you like apples?” is a perfectly innocent literal question — though it’s a weird question for Will to ask under the circumstances, so the Harvard guy is puzzled and probably suspects that he’s about to be made a fool of. But “How do you like them apples?” is an idiom, and doesn’t refer to real apples at all (or even breasts, testicles, or anything else along those lines). It just means something like, “So there, ha ha, tough luck.” So it’s just one of those jokes where the same phrase has a couple of different meanings. There’s a great song by Flanders & Swann that makes use of this kind of humour a lot, called “Have some Madeira, m’dear”, with lines like “he hastened to put out the cat, the wine, his cigar, and the lamps.” Again, this is funny because “put out” is used to mean several different things (put outside, serve, extinguish).
Well, nothing is funny once you explain it. But I hope this helps.
hit me can mean how do you like them apples think about it if you hit someone over the head with apples it could hurt so i thought that also you ever hit anyone with apples? reply
Peace Out homies and remember guns are bad
hit me can mean how do you like them apples think about it if you hit someone over the head with apples it could hurt so i thought that also you ever hit anyone with apples? reply
Peace Out homies and remember guns are bad
Aah! I’m British & I had no idea why it was funny.
I thought it was some weird reference to “The Wizard Of Oz” – y’know, when Dorothy picks an apple off the talking tree & the Scarecrow says “You don’t want any of THOSE apples.”
Lol – at least I was trying to think
Thanks for the help with American slang & at least you guys were confused too!
The spanish equivalent to that phrase isn’t “Como te gustan las manzanas?” So do your research before you even post about it.
The real spanish equivalent to “How do you like them apples?” is “Como te quedo el ojo?” which in english means “How’s you eye?” As you can see it doesn’t make any sense but in spanish it does and it’s a very popular phrase usually used to express revenge.
I think there may be a historical background to this phrase (as explained by some posters) but my take on the phrase is this:
Will Hunting asked the Harvard guy “Do you like apples?”, to set him up for the actual phrase. So when he said, “How do you like them apples?”, it was like mocking to the other guy, “You like apples? How do you like them (hope you enjoy them, cos I’ve got something better), I’ve got the girl’s number!” Why apples? Why not?
I’m not American so correct me if I’m wrong
Apparently the phrase came from the WWI era with the apple mortar bomb used to kill the enemy in the trenches and the occasional tank. Soldiers could be heard yelling “How do you like them apples?” when one would go off. Hopefully this helps.
“How’d you like them apples?” is basically a way to add insult to injury..Letting your opponent know that you’ve got the upper hand now.
“How do you like them apples?”, also shortened to, “How do you like them?” or, “Them apples,” is an American idiom used to gloat or to express bemusement. In both senses, the phrase probably acts as a rhetorical question. The origin of this idiom is uncertain.
This idiomatic expression is used to express surprise or shock at something that has happened. It can also be used to boast about something you have done.
BTW I’m Swedish and I know this… stupid fuckers.
Lol, I live in London, this completely threw me “Do you like apples?” Urm, yea…?? Why is that funny? Lol, I’m glad I’m not the only person who was baffled! I’ve never heard it before, you need to have some idea of its usage in general to understand that scene.
how do ya like dem apples, IT DOESNT FUCKIN MEAN BOOBS! it’s a fuck u, u do sumthin better den them. u get a gurl he likes, so u tell im and say how do u like dem apples. like ur better den dem but u dont wanna say it