What does "Physical chemical" mean from Seinfeld.
HELEN: Which one is she? MORTY: From Maryland. The one who brought you the chocolate covered cherries you didn’t like.
HELEN: Oh yeah, very alert. Warm person. JERRY: Oh yeah, she’s great.
HELEN: So, how come nothing materialized there? JERRY: Well, it’s a tough thing to talk about uh. I dunno... HELEN: I know what it was. JERRY: You don’t know what it was.
HELEN: So, what was it? JERRY: Well, we fight a lot for some reason. HELEN & MORTY: Oh, well... JERRY: And there was a little problem with the physical chemistry. (His parents don’t know how to respond.)

Question

What does "Physical chemical" mean from Seinfeld.
HELEN: Which one is she? MORTY: From Maryland. The one who brought you the chocolate covered cherries you didn’t like. 
HELEN: Oh yeah, very alert. Warm person. JERRY: Oh yeah, she’s great. 
HELEN: So, how come nothing materialized there? JERRY: Well, it’s a tough thing to talk about uh. I dunno... HELEN: I know what it was. JERRY: You don’t know what it was.
HELEN: So, what was it? JERRY: Well, we fight a lot for some reason. HELEN & MORTY: Oh, well... JERRY: And there was a little problem with the physical chemistry. (His parents don’t know how to respond.)

Answer

Physical chemistry implies something about bodily attraction.  Hence, you can see why Jerry is having a hard time talking about it with his parents.  Great choice in TV show, by the way!

Answer

"Chemistry" is sometimes used to refer to the relationship between people, especially romantically.

e.g. "I liked the guy, but there was just no chemistry"

or

"It's weird; in many ways she drives me crazy, but we just have some real chemistry"

So "And there was a little problem with the physical chemistry" implies that the problem was somewhat sexual.

Answers · 2

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