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How do you like them apples?

Posted by ESC on October 27, 2008 at 22:12

In Reply to: How do you like them apples? posted by Cliff Bowman on October 27, 2008 at 17:58:

: : Does anyone know the origin of the phrase "how do you like them apples?". I saw (or rather heard) the phrase in the movie 'Good Will Hunting' and while I understood the sentiment that was conveyed, the actual meaning eluded me...

: I cannot find an authoritative source, but various sites on the web have it that the original "apple" was a mortar-fired bomb used during WW I. An illustration of the "toffee apple" can be found at the URL below.

: The 1959 Howard Hawks film "Rio Bravo" is said to have a scene where the character "Stumpy" (played by Walter Brennan) lobs a stick of dynamite and says the phrase in question.

This came up before -- also from someone watching Good Will Hunting. All I could find was that the phrase has been used since the 1920s.

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