How do you like those apples?

Posted by Smokey Stover on December 31, 2004

In Reply to: How do you like those apples? posted by Smokey Stover on December 31, 2004

: : As the subject imples,what the hell does this meanand where does it come from?Please help I am in a dire conflict with my girlfiend.

: : Thnaks

: : Jim

: The correct form is "How do you like them apples?" The phrase is cousin to "Put that in your pipe and smoke it!", and to "How about THAT?" (as opposed to the rather modern slang expression, "How ABOUT that?"), and so "So there!", simple and enduring. SS

Also, "So what do you think of these (them, those)?" As far as I have been able to tell, there are two ways the phrase is used, aside from smart-ass references to real apples or Apple Computers. One way invites admiration for something, perhaps a small triumph, usually something acquired or done by the speaker. The other way is similar, but with the addition of a bit of gloating (if I have interpreted correctly what I have heard). Paul Brian, in his Website devoted to Common Errors in English, notes that "How do you like them apples?" is a catch-phrase, in which the bad English is an essential part of the phrase. I fully expect correction or amplification by other phrase-finders who know this phrase better than I. SS

• How do you like those apples? Brian from Shawnee 31/December/04
  • So there! ESC 31/December/04