...Bananas

[Dennis R. Preston]

That would be 1970's; I don't know doodly-squat about science fiction.

dInIs


>Lots of other fruit and vegetable names like this. My favorite was a
>19780's (perhaps earlier) Polish riddle:
>
>Q. Why is a Pole like a radish.
>
>A. Because he has only a thin layer of red on the outside.
>
>dInIs
>
>>Thus 1970s UK 'bananas', corrupt policemen, because 'they're 'yellow, bent
>>[i.e. corrupt] and hang around in bunches'. There are other negative puns on
>>banana, e.g. the term for an Asian who has adopted Western values and is
>>'yellow on the otuside and white within' (a la 'apple' and 'oreo'). The
>>exception is 1950s Australia's 'banana', a one-pound note which is,
>>apparntly 'sweet and acceptable'.
>>
>>Jonathon Green
--
Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736