How do you like them apples?

June 23, 2006 12:52 PM

"How do you like them apples?" Can you explain to me the meaning of this line by Will Hunting (Matt Damon) in "Good Will Hunting"?

I really like the film and have seen it many times but can't get my head around this one line. What bugs me even more is that same line gets used and quoted in a number of other films and TV programmes.

posted by ndaguiar to Media & Arts (18 answers total)

"How ya like those apples" is a saying that was around long before Good Will Hunting -- it roughly translates to rhetorically asking someone "What do you think about that?"

His "Do you like apples?" was just a semi-clever lead-in to his method of delivering the news that he'd gotten Minnie Driver's (?) phone number.
posted by Doofus Magoo at 12:56 PM on June 23, 2006

it's an oldie.
posted by hototogisu at 12:56 PM on June 23, 2006

It's an idiom. That is, it was an expression way before Good Will Hunting used it. The funny part is not "How do you like them apples?" It's the bizarre "Do you like apples?" question that looks like it's coming out of nowhere, followed by the expression so that we understand what he's asking.

It's like this:

Q: Do you like hanging out in Jacuzzis?
A: Huh?
Q: Because you're in hot water now, bitch!
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 12:56 PM on June 23, 2006

it seems like its another phrase from the '20s that no one knows the origin of.

The one I've always wondered about is 23 skiddoo.
posted by empath at 1:01 PM on June 23, 2006

Here's a theory about "23 Skidoo"
posted by donajo at 1:13 PM on June 23, 2006

Here's another.

What I don't get is the joke Minnie Driver tells Will and his pals at the bar. (It ends with "Give us a kiss" and beer down her chin and front.) I mean, I get it, I just don't get why it's funny. I feel like I am missing one little thing that makes it hilarious. Or is it just a sight gag?
posted by clh at 1:18 PM on June 23, 2006

donajo:

That's a sort of specialized version of the "theory." What I've heard is that the wind was not particularly more gusty in that part of town, but rather that this area (5th Avenue near 23rd Street) was where all the nicest department stores were around the turn of the century -- and therefore, during the middle of the day, the sidewalks were crowded with ladies. In fact, this was one of the few parts of New York where you could do girl-watching back then -- mostly "nice" women stayed home or anyway didn't stroll the sidewalks.

The "23 skiddoo" was a slang term for wind blowing up ladies' skirts -- affording a cheap thrill for ne'er do wells hanging about the "Ladies' Mile."
posted by La Cieca at 1:29 PM on June 23, 2006

Answers to both questions.
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 1:33 PM on June 23, 2006

clh: I think the joke is funny because of the context: a bunch of guys, one girl, in a bar, drinking. Typically, in this situation, the guys would be cracking vulgar jokes of that variety, but since Driver did it, AND she's a girl, it makes it shocking, unexpected, and funny. Girls typically only stick to jokes about unicorns, jelly beans, and rainbows... and the occasionaly "sitting on a maxi pad" gut-buster.
posted by bjork24 at 1:33 PM on June 23, 2006

you know, the weird thing about that particular line is that matt damon's accent is so strange that when I saw that particular scene I got the impression that the movie was basically a new take on Rainman.
posted by fishfucker at 1:46 PM on June 23, 2006

In the Monkkes movie head, the gang surprise Mike Nesmith with a birthday party, which annoys him. He doesn't like suprise parties, as it turns out. "And I don't like Christmas either," he shouts. "How do you like them apples!"
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:53 PM on June 23, 2006

Applesauce, bitch!
posted by LilBucner at 2:02 PM on June 23, 2006

"Give us a Kiss"

Is a quote from the movie "Two for the Road" with Audrey Hepburn & Albert Finney. If I remember correctly... He is getting out of the water at the beach and comes at Audrey with a goofy face and saying, "give us a kiss". she just says, "bastard."
We have said this line in my family my entire life (always making a silly face).
posted by nimsey lou at 2:16 PM on June 23, 2006

I remember seeing an episode of Quincy where he says "How do ya like them potoates?!" I wonder how many other variations there are.
posted by macdara at 2:22 PM on June 23, 2006

That should obviously be 'potatoes', not 'potoates'. I need an eye test.
posted by macdara at 2:23 PM on June 23, 2006

No worries, mate, she'll be apples!
posted by Nelson at 2:27 PM on June 23, 2006

But nimsey lou, a few years before "Two for the Road," John said the same thing in "A Hard Day's Night" (to the stuffy man in the train compartment).

Regarding "Good Will Hunting," see my previous comment.
posted by Rash at 2:36 PM on June 23, 2006

I am the official one-man Ask MeFi username appreciation society. Fishfucker, you now hold top honors (and with gusto!), having unseated longtime champion I Love Tacos. Kudos to you, sir. Bravo. Don't get too comfortable though. Why, just recently Hot Soup Girl and The Corpse In The Library made daring attempts at the top spot.

Thanks to mbd1mbd1 for solving my longstanding desire to know what Ben Affleck's monkey/leprechaun joke was about.
posted by kookoobirdz at 2:50 PM on June 23, 2006