What is the origin of the idiom "How about them apples"?

The origin of the idiom "how about them apples" is from World War I. The anti-tank grenades were shaped similar to apples and were nicknamed "toffee apples." The saying goes that when the grenade was tossed at the tanks the allied soldier would taunt the enemy with the saying. The phrase has not lost its meaning of taunting someone who is receiving bad news, especially at the hands of the taunter. My favorite memory of the quote is in "Good Will Hunting" when he taunts the arrogant student by showing the girl's phone number. "You like apples?"

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/how_do_you_like_them_apples

Although the phrase was in use in the French Trenches, there is also mention of it before the First World War, or at the very least a precursor to the phrase.

It appears in print in 1893 as "how's them for apples" in a newspaper report about a conversation at the World Fair.

It is also in print in 1895 as "how do you like 'them apples'?"


(The updates at the base of this Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog go into detail).

https://esnpc.blogspot.com/2014/07/ieds-jam-and-trench-warfare-bombastic.html