Many people say “Bon appétit!” before dining, but there’s a popular Halloween riddle:
Q: What do skeletons say before they begin dining?
A: Bone appétit.
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1991.
21 June 1991, The News Journal (Wilmington, DE), “Just for Laughs,” 55 hours, pg. 11, col. 1:
Q. What do skeletons say before dinner?
A. Bone appetit!
Adam Tazelaar, age 9
Felton
29 March 1992, Battle Creek (MI) Enquirer, “Just for Laughs,” Kids Today, pg. 1, col. 1:
Q. What do skeletons say before dining
A. Bone appetit!
Jason Asby
Monroe, La.
December 1996, Children’s Digest, “Jokes & Riddles,” pg. 20, col. 1:
Question: What do skeletons say before they begin dining?
Answer: Bone-appetit!
Kayla Willberg
Lott, Texas
Google Groups: alt.folklore.ghost-stories
[Fwd: HALLOWEEN FUNNIES] (fwd)
Anonymous
10/31/97
(...)
What do skeletons say before they begin dining?
Bone appetit !
11 November 1998, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “The Kid’s Reading Room; Pint-Sized Punch Lines,” pg. 8:
What does a skeleton say before dinner? “Bone”-appetit! (Sam Wolk, 3, Beverly Hills, Evergreen School)
Google Books
Penguin Pocket Jokes
By David Pickering
New York, NY: Penguin Books
2006
Pg. ?:
What do skeletons say before they eat?
‘Bone appetit.’
Google Books
July 2007, Boys’ Life, “Think & Grin,” pg. 53, col. 3:
Mary: What did the skeleton say after it served dinner?
Jo: What?
Mary: “BONE appetit!”
Mary Jo Erin Brock, Canton, Ga.
Google Books
The Funniest Spooky Joke Book Ever
By Joe King
New York, NY: Andersen Press
2013
Pg. ?:
What do skeletons say before they begin dining?
Bone appétit
Google Books
The Super, Epic, Mega Joke Book for Kids
By Whee Winn
Grand Rapids, MI: Zonderkidz
2016
Pg. ?:
What does a skeleton say before dinner?
Bone appetit!
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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