How do you like them apples?

[Echsphilee]

Hi there!

I was just wondering if anybody knows where this idiom has its origin?

Thank you
Kasper

[Tdol]

I haven't heard it like that- the form I've heard (in the UK) is 'how do you like them/those cookies?'

[Echsphilee]

I think this version is American English, I have only heard it in American movies.

[Tdol]

I think this version is American English, I have only heard it in American movies.

The use of 'cookies' clearly suggests that it is American, but it is used in the UK. I've looked around but canot find where it comes from. Someone suggests it might be a catch phrase, which would account for the bad grammar, but I haven't seen the origin pinpointed yet.

[QueenMedusa]

I'm from Somerset in the UK and this would be perfectly acceptable grammar here even though it sounds technically incorrect. We would also say "How do you like them there apples?"

[Tdol]

Thanks for that- it suggests that the catchphrase idea might be wrong. Would you say it's an idiom in Somerset?

[mykwyner]

I'm not able to tell you the origin of this idiom, but I can tell you its usage and connotation in American English. It is something you say when you get revenge against someone who thought he was better than you. The use of the word them instead of those intensifies the revenge because the snob was beaten by an unsophisticated person.

[Marylin]

I think this version is American English, I have only heard it in American movies.

an interesting view on that here:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_b...ages/1519.html

Apart from that, I hear this form being used quite frequently here in Canada. Nothing to do with getting back at someone. Simply a goofy way of speaking.

[munchiez]

Hi all, I've just been hunting about for this myself and I think I've found the origins of the phrase on urbandictionary.com, so I just thought I'd post it here.

It seems to come from World War 1, when "Stokes guns" fired round shells with sticks that were nicknamed Toffee Apples. In the 1959 film "Rio Bravo", guy throws a grenade, followed by the taunt "how do ya like them apples?".

Maybe it was something that WW1 soldiers shouted when they hit a target with a Stokes gun??

Source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...rm=them+apples

Hope this helps :)

[Tdol]

Munchiez, thanks for a very interesting idea.