go bananas
to become very excited or angry
TRANSLATION
go bananas = verrückt werden, überschnappen, ausflippen, durchdrehen --- GOOGLE INDEX go bananas: approximately 1,300,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"They WENT BANANAS when I said I was going to sell," said Joseph Moran of New Hyde Park, L.I., a retired New Hyde Park police officer, referring to tenants in a home he sold in September.
(New York Times)
---
Turkey's players and fans GO BANANAS after deservedly opening the scoring against the rattled German defence.
(BBC Sports)
(New York Times)
---
Turkey's players and fans GO BANANAS after deservedly opening the scoring against the rattled German defence.
(BBC Sports)
Did you
know?
go bananas
- to become very emotional
(Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms)
---
The word banana first appeared after the fruit was introduced to the New World from Africa in the early 16th century. The term was borrowed by Spanish or Portuguese from a West African word, possibly from the Wolof language (Senegal, Gambia).
There are several strange theories regarding the origin of the expression "go bananas." They include erotic references, as well as the banana’s bent shape (among other things bent means crazy). The most likely explanation is that it evolved from a similar expression: go ape. This stems from the notion that monkeys, which have long been associated with wild and crazy behaviour, like to eat bananas.
If someone else is responsible for making you go bananas, then the expression changes to "he/she is driving me bananas," which is synonymous with the more common "driving me crazy." Bananas is also used as a general adjective for crazy or silly (You’re going out in this weather? You’re bananas!)
Banana was also used in the 1950s to rank people according to their status or ability through the expressions "top banana" and "second banana." This evolved from the show business slang use of banana for a comedian, especially in a burlesque show. A similar term that was popular in the early 20th century is "banana oil," which meant nonsense. This expression is meanwhile archaic.
---
SYNONYMS
go ape, go berserk, go bonkers, go crazy, go haywire, go off the deep end, go nuts, go off one’s rocker, go wild, go ballistic, flip out, wig out
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The passengers went bananas when the airline announced the flight was cancelled."
- to become very emotional
(Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms)
---
The word banana first appeared after the fruit was introduced to the New World from Africa in the early 16th century. The term was borrowed by Spanish or Portuguese from a West African word, possibly from the Wolof language (Senegal, Gambia).
There are several strange theories regarding the origin of the expression "go bananas." They include erotic references, as well as the banana’s bent shape (among other things bent means crazy). The most likely explanation is that it evolved from a similar expression: go ape. This stems from the notion that monkeys, which have long been associated with wild and crazy behaviour, like to eat bananas.
If someone else is responsible for making you go bananas, then the expression changes to "he/she is driving me bananas," which is synonymous with the more common "driving me crazy." Bananas is also used as a general adjective for crazy or silly (You’re going out in this weather? You’re bananas!)
Banana was also used in the 1950s to rank people according to their status or ability through the expressions "top banana" and "second banana." This evolved from the show business slang use of banana for a comedian, especially in a burlesque show. A similar term that was popular in the early 20th century is "banana oil," which meant nonsense. This expression is meanwhile archaic.
---
SYNONYMS
go ape, go berserk, go bonkers, go crazy, go haywire, go off the deep end, go nuts, go off one’s rocker, go wild, go ballistic, flip out, wig out
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The passengers went bananas when the airline announced the flight was cancelled."
