The idiom “going bananas” was coined in 1968 and is a result of cultural shifts and experimentation in the 60s and 70s. College students are often the first to adopt new language trends, and the expression may have originated from smoking banana peels, which was believed to have psychedelic effects. The expression remains in use today.
Everyone freaks out once in a while, and everyone from the youngest kids to the oldest knows what that means. This fact would not seem so strange except that the expression is practically a newborn in the wonderful world of idiomatic expressions. Many expressions are so old that linguists can’t even say for sure what century they were coined, but a handful of others, including “going bananas,” have left a trail of crumbs right to the source. Going bananas by jumping up and down, screaming, or otherwise becoming overexcited didn’t officially make the scene until 1968.
Language is constantly evolving, both in terms of grammar and word usage. Idioms, otherwise known as expressions or phrases, are particularly malleable, perhaps because, by their very nature, they belong to popular tradition and are therefore beyond the reach of academics except as objects of study. There is nothing surprising that a new idiom enters the language stream. What is enough to drive a linguist crazy, however, is when a new one sticks around long enough to matter.
Cultural shifts may not always be attributable to college students, but there’s no doubt they’re something of a canary in the mine shaft. College students are often the first to pick up and spread a language shift because it’s, in a word, trendy, hot, or fresh. The students go out of their way to delve into the conversations taking place on the street and take pride in what they discover.
The expression “go bananas” is one such discovery, but this time it is likely that the students were referring to their own stories. The sixties and seventies were a period of experimentation. The kids pushed every envelope they could find from conventional love to religion and from religion to ethics. Any expectation inherited from a previous generation became a question, and it was enough to drive them crazy.
It may have been because, in certain quarters, they smoked banana peels. Or maybe they really weren’t and just said they were. At the end of the day, it amounted to the same thing. Word spread, and going bananas was where it was.
Toasting and smoking a banana peel was said to be as cheap a trip as magic mushrooms offer. This eventually proved false, much to the disappointment of greengrocers around the world who hoped their retirements would be guaranteed. Be that as it may, the voice at least made a linguistic contribution that continues to this day.
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