why "drive me banana"means drive me crazy?

zhuifeng1105

2011年3月14日 15:37

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Great question actually. It's related to another expression in English: "to go ape" which means to 'go crazy' in the sense of acting 'crazy' like monkeys we see at the zoo act, at least in the old days when they were behind bars, or how they were depicted in old Tarzan movies. Screeching, jumping around and being wildly excited or agitated. So, it's not a big stretch to then see how "driving someone (to eat) bananas", essentially means the same as "going ape". Drive you bananas = turn you into a hoping, wild banana eater (i.e. a monkey).

2011年3月14日

zhuifeng1105

thank you so much,so i guess it's kinda mataphor,the way of thinking is really different .

2011年3月14日 · 回复

Jennifer

Imagine the behavior of a lovely, hungry and excited monkey if you put a banana in front of him... =D (so cute) ...ok, That's going bananas ^^ I think it's the same as "go nuts" . ^^

2011年3月14日

Lewis

Other synonyms in British English are to "go mental", to "flip out", or to "go off it" (although they can all mean both 'go mad' and 'get angry' depending on the context).

2011年3月14日

zhuifeng1105

really?it seems British English differs in American in many ways ,especally in some slangs, i know that "fag" in British means " cigarette", but what does it mean in America ?

2011年3月15日 · 回复

Lewis

British and American English have lots of differences; a few in pronunciation (we say vah-s, they say vay-z for 'vase') but mostly in vocabulary. We can understand each other but we just use different words. Some spellings are different; in words derived from French we keep the French spelling; honour in BrE vs honor in AmE, jewellery in BrE vs. jewelry in AmE, and in word endings they write Z rather than S - Americanisation or Americanization. "Fag" is a somewhat old-fashioned English word for a cigarette which in America has come to be a pejorative derogative word for homosexuals that will cause offence if used.

2011年3月15日 · 回复

雲小泉

We like bananas.

2011年3月15日

zhuifeng1105

so i guess you guys really are big fans of animals ,too. cause i often heared from the moives,like"you dance just like an animals" ,the way of you metaphor is quite different from us chinese.

2011年3月15日 · 回复

Jura

Yes, we have no bananas, no bananas today....

2011年3月15日 · 回复

Jura

drive me bananas = crazy. It means you're driving me crazy. Same as 'you're driving me bonkers.'

2011年3月14日

zhuifeng1105

a little difference can make a great sense, i guess, and thank you so much,for reminding me.

2011年3月15日 · 回复

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