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[0582] Go bananas

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English Idioms
All Idioms

Explanation

  • A group of informal idioms meaning to become extremely angry, excited, agitated, irrational, or crazy. The specific emotion depends heavily on context.

Origin

  • Go bananas: Mid-20th century slang. Possibly references the excited behavior of monkeys getting bananas, or uses bananas as a general slang term for crazy.
  • Go nuts: Early 20th century. Nuts has meant crazy or insane since the mid-19th century, perhaps from nut as slang for head (off his nut = crazy).
  • Flip out: Popularized in 1960s American slang. Suggests a sudden, complete loss of emotional control, as if flipping over mentally.
  • Bug out: 1950s slang. Can mean to go crazy/panic (from bug meaning obsession or flaw), OR to flee/retreat quickly (military slang). Context is key; here we focus on the 'go crazy/panic' meaning.
  • Flip your lid: Mid-20th century. Lid metaphorically represents self-control or the top of one's head; flipping it means losing control explosively, similar to blow your top.

Synonyms & Related Expressions

  • Go crazy / Go mad.
  • Lose it. / Lose your cool. / Lose your temper.
  • Freak out. (Very common)
  • Go ballistic. (Become extremely angry)
  • Blow a fuse. / Blow your top. / Blow a gasket. (Become very angry)
  • Hit the roof. / Hit the ceiling. (Become very angry)
  • Fly off the handle. (Lose temper suddenly)
  • Have a fit. / Throw a fit.
  • Go wild. (Often excitement or lack of inhibition)
  • Rant and rave. (Talk angrily and wildly)

Alternatives

Slang/Informal:

  • Lose your shit. (Vulgar implies a major loss of emotional control, anger or panic)
  • Wig out. / Trip out. (Slang, similar to flip out, sometimes implies drug influence or surreal experience for 'trip out')
  • Go ape. / Go apeshit. (Vulgar become extremely angry or wild)
  • Pop off. (Modern slang suddenly start ranting or arguing)

Vulgar/Emphatic:

  • Lose one's shit.
  • Go apeshit.
  • Go fucking crazy/nuts/bananas.

Milder/Standard:

  • Become very angry / upset / excited.
  • React very strongly.
  • Lose control of one's emotions.
  • Become irrational.

Situational Appropriateness

  • Informal.
  • Suitable for casual conversations describing strong emotional reactions.
  • Avoid in formal reports or serious discussions where more precise language (became extremely agitated, reacted with great anger/excitement) is needed.

Misunderstanding Warnings

  • The primary confusion can be whether the expression means angry, excited, or crazy/irrational. Context is crucial for interpretation.
  • Bug out has the distinct alternative meaning of leaving quickly/fleeing, which must be distinguished by context.

Examples

  • Excitement: The crowd went bananas when the team scored the winning goal.
  • Anger: My boss is going to go nuts when he sees this mistake.
  • Anger/Upset: She completely flipped out when she found out he lied to her.
  • Panic/Irrationality: He started bugging out under pressure and couldn't answer the questions.
  • Anger: Try not to flip your lid, but I might have dented your car.

Dialogue

Scenario 1 (Excitement):

A: How was the concert?

B: Incredible! Everyone went nuts when the surprise guest walked on stage!

Scenario 2 (Anger):

C: Uh oh. I think I just accidentally deleted the entire client database.

D: You WHAT?! The manager is going to flip his lid!

Social Media Examples

  • Tweet: Fans are going bananas over the new album announcement! 🍌 #music #excitement
  • Post: My computer crashed right before I saved my work. Almost flipped out. Deep breaths... #techfail #frustrated
  • Comment: He went nuts when he saw the score!
  • Meme: *Picture of someone looking panicked* Caption: Me bugging out when I realize I left my phone at home.

Response Patterns

  • If describing someone else: Shock (Wow!), curiosity (Why? What happened?), concern (Is she okay?).
  • If directed at someone (Don't go nuts): May result in defensiveness (I'm not going nuts!) or an attempt to calm down.

Common Follow-up Questions/Actions

After hearing someone went bananas/nuts/flipped out:

  • People usually ask for the cause: What made them go bananas? / Why did he flip out?
  • Ask about the consequences: What did they do then?

If someone is currently flipping out:

  • Others might try to calm them down (Hey, take it easy).
  • Give them space.
  • Address the cause of the outburst if possible.

Conversation Starter

  • No. Describes a reaction or state of being.

Intonation

  • Expressed with energy that matches the emotion described (excitement, anger, panic).
  • Strong stress on the key words: ba-NA-nas, nuts, out, lid.
  • The crowd went ba-NA-nas! / Don't FLIP OUT!

Generation Differences

  • Go nuts, flip out, go bananas are widely understood across recent generations (Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z).
  • Flip your lid and bug out might sound slightly dated but are generally known.
  • Freak out is extremely common, particularly among Millennials and Gen Z.

Regional Variations

  • All are common in American English.
  • Other regions have equivalents (e.g., go spare or do your nut in the UK for getting angry).
Get a move on
🎲 Have a blast