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There’s a line in Good Will Hunting that I never understood. I’ve seen the movie a few times, but could never make sense of this one line — which was clearly a joke, but over my head. It comes in the scene where Matt Damon’s character argues with Robin Williams’ character, and then Williams’ character throws Damon’s out of the office. On the way out, Damon says, “Fuck you!” To which Williams replies, “You’re the shepherd.”

He’s the shepherd? WTF?

The other day on the treadmill, I had an insight: I understood the joke. I think it’s great how these mysteries occupy dark corners of the mind, only to spring into the light with no conscious provocation weeks or months later.

Here’s the scene: Sean (Williams’ character, the therapist) and Will (Damon) are discussing Will’s plans for the future. Will is being characteristically sarcastic. IMDB provides this transcript of the exchange:

And then Sean walks to the door, opens it up, and makes a “get the hell out” motion. He’s upset because Will is not taking the therapy seriously. If you don’t remember this, the big revelation isn’t going to be very interesting. But I’ll tell you anyway.

The key isn’t what Will said, but what Sean responded to. There’s an implied pun. Will said, “Fuck you!” But Sean turned it into an insult back at Will. Sean’s reply, “You’re the shepherd,” makes perfect sense if you spell Will’s comment this way: “Fuck ewe!”

(If you just said “ee-wee” under your breath, please visit this pronounciation guide right now.)