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BANANA

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banana¹

  • /bəˈnɑːnə/ British, Northern England, UK, Southern, Standard, Wales
  • /bəˈnænə/ US
  • /bəˈnɐːnə/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /bəˈnanə/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɑːnə, -ænə

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Portuguese banana or Spanish banana, derived from a Niger-Congo language spoken in the Guinea region. Specific derivation is unclear. Possible ancestor or cognate languages include Wolof banaana, Eastern Maninkakan banana, and Vai ꕒꘌꕯ (ɓaana) or ꕒꕌꕯ (ɓaana), possibly from Arabic بَنَان (banān, “fingertip, banana”). However, Ay Baati Wolof (Munro & Gaye, 1997) posits that Wolof banaana is itself derived from Portuguese banana.

The racial slur derives from the notion that they are “Yellow (East-Asian) on the outside, but White (Westernized) on the inside”.

noun bananas · bonana · bonano · bonanoe

  1. countable, uncountable An elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin. Jimmy had a banana for breakfast.
  2. Canada, Ireland, UK, US, countable, uncountable In particular, the sweet, yellow fruit of the Cavendish banana cultivar, which may be eaten raw, as distinct from e.g. a plantain for cooking.
  3. countable, uncountable The tropical tree-like plant which bears clusters of bananas, a plant of the genus Musa (but sometimes also including plants from Ensete), which has large, elongated leaves.
  4. uncountable A yellow color, like that of a banana's skin.
  5. countable, derogatory, ethnic, slur, uncountable A person of East or Southeast Asian descent, considered to be overly assimilated and subservient to white authority.
  6. Malaysia, Singapore, countable, derogatory, ethnic, slur A person of Chinese descent who cannot speak Mandarin or any Chinese dialect
  7. countable, slang, uncountable The penis. The fact that the cop bought O'Brien a beer after feeling of his banana suggests that it must have been a promising one
  8. countable, uncountable A banana kick.
  9. countable, uncountable A banana equivalent dose.
  10. colloquial, countable, uncountable A catamorphism (from the use of banana brackets in the notation).
  11. countable, uncountable An incorrectly held handstand, often seen in beginners.

adjective bonana · bonano · bonanoe

  1. not comparable Curved like a banana, especially of a ball in flight. Even the lowly banana ball, the bane of so many weekenders, sometimes can be exactly right, as in this case.

BANANA²

  • /bəˈnɑːnə/ UK
  • /bəˈnænə/ US

Sounds like banana · Rhymes with -ɑːnə, -ænə

Where it comes from

Contrived acronym of build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone (or anything), as a play on "bananas" meaning "crazy, mad"

noun BANANAs

  1. attributive, derogatory, humorous, informal, often One who objects to the building of any structure in their neighbourhood or a certain type of structure anywhere, especially in public policy debate. David Taylor (Letters, January 23) does not appear to be aware that the NIMBY syndrome, with all its parochial overtones, has been superseded by the all embracing BANANA syndrome – Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone.

Banana³

  • /bə.næ.nə/
  • /bə.nɑː.nə/

proper noun

  1. A surname.
  2. A village on Kiritimati, Kiribati. The principal economic activity is copra production, the Government copra plantation covering some 5,170 ha. The population in 1989 was estimated at 2,000, the great majority of whom live in London, Banana and Poland villages in the west.

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