to go bananas
to become very angry
TRANSLATION
go bananas = verrückt werden, überschnappen, ausflippen, durchdrehen —— to be bananas = (total / völlig) übergeschnappt sein, bekloppt sein —— to drive sb. bananas = jdn. verrückt machen, jdn. wahnsinnig machen —— to be bananas about sth. = verrückt nach etw. sein
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
“They WENT BANANAS when I said I was going to sell,” said Joseph Moran, a retired New Hyde Park police officer, referring to tenants in a home he sold in September.”
New York Times
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“Turkey’s players and fans GO BANANAS after deservedly opening the scoring against the German defence.”
BBC Sports
Did you
know?
go bananas
idiom
- to become very excited or angry
Merriam-Webster
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ORIGIN
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!)
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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
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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:
“Jim WENT BANANAS after his zoom connection broke down during the his slide presentation.”
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The ANTIDOTE to “going bananas"
Yesterday, I received a WhatsApp message from a friend in Berlin. It was a photo of a handwritten note which read:
DANKBAR !
Früh wach - lebendiger Kinder
Haus voller unordnung - Ein Dach über dem Kopf
Schon wieder Regen - Gut für den Garten
Der tägliche Einkauf - Versorgung gesichert
Berge von Wäsche - Genug zum Anziehen
Stapel von Abwasch - Alle sind satt
Bus verpasst - geschenkte Zeit
Jede Menge Lärm - Menschen um mich her
Erschöpft in Bett - Ein Tag voller Leben!
Amen.
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Paul Smith
