What is term does 'Banana Republics' refer to?
What is a banana republic? The term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the exportation of a limited-resource product, such as bananas or oil. But it has come to mean any country which is corrupt and unstable.
What does the economic term Banana Republic mean?
What does banana-republic mean? A small country that is economically dependent on a single export commodity, such as bananas, and is typically governed ...
Where did Banana Republic name came from?
Why did they name the store Banana Republic? In 1904, after his return to the United States, he published a novel called Cabbages and Kings, set in a country meant to resemble Honduras called Anchuria that he labeled a “banana republic” because it had a shady government and an economy that depended on bananas .
What does the term Banana Republic mean?
What Is a Banana Republic? The term banana republic is a noun, typically used in a derogatory manner, that describes a small nation (typically in Central America) that has an economy dependent on one singular crop or industry.
Why is the term banana republic used?
The term banana republic describes a struggling country whose economy depends on exporting natural resources — particularly agriculture, hence the banana — to larger, wealthier nations. These countries are politically unstable, making them susceptible to worker exploitation, government corruption, and foreign control.
Is banana republic a derogatory term?
“Banana republic” is defined as a derogatory term meaning “a small nation, especially in Central America, dependent on one crop or the influx of foreign capital” (Oxford Dictionary).
What does banana mean in slang?
crazy; derangedadjective Slang. crazy; deranged: All that chatter is driving me bananas. wildly enthusiastic: The crowd went bananas when the music began.
What does the slang word banana mean?
crazy(bəˈnɑːnəz ) adjective. slang. crazy (esp in the phrase go bananas) Collins English Dictionary.
Why is bananas slang for crazy?
These sources claim that the crazy banana meaning comes from the phrase “banana oil,” which, in flapper slang, meant “nonsense.” Typically, the substance referred to as banana oil is amyl acetate, which is, insanely, used as both a paint solvent and as a flavoring.
What do Dominicans call bananas?
guineoThe word Dominicans use for banana is guineo. The word banana is almost universal and is used not just in English and Spanish, but also in countless other languages.
What countries did Banana Republic start?
By coincidence, a series of violent political dramas in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua exploded into international notoriety at the very moment of Banana Republic’s founding. The often appalling headlines may have lent an edge to the company’s image but did not impede its growing success.
Where did bananas come from?
The banana first reached the Caribbean from Africa via Portuguese ships in the 16th century, but to North Americans it was a fresh new discovery in the late 1800s after Boston sea captain Lorenzo Baker brought it to market in New Jersey.
What is the most popular fruit in the world?
In the course of becoming the world’s most popular fruit, the banana also added an enduring item to our vocabulary: the banana republic.
Is the banana republic still alive?
Although American corporations no longer dominate Central American economies with the same heavy hand, banana republic has continued to thrive. Many decades after its inception, it got a major boost with the 1979 opening of a new clothing company in northern California.
Do bananas recede?
Bananas have greatly receded in the area's economy (and Banana Republic has long since jettisoned its tropical gear), but the term has lived on in uses extending beyond small countries of the tropics:
Is Banana Republic disrespectful?
However, the company name at first struck some as disrespectful: "James Sterba rightfully ridicules the pseudotropical clothes that Banana Republic sells at exorbitant prices (arts page, Jan. 22).
Which country was the first to have a banana republic?
The first country to be described as a "banana republic," albeit in a roundabout way, was Honduras, writes T.W. for The Economist, which traditionally does not publish full bylines. In 1904, American writer O. Henry wrote “The Admiral,” a short story published in his book Cabbages and Kings.
Where did bananas come from?
It was sweeter and cheaper by far to import it instead from the warmer climes of Central America, where bananas and other fruit grow quickly.
When did bananas become popular?
Bananas only became popular in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century , writes NPR, and it was in large part thanks to Zemurray, who went from a pushcart fruit peddler to the banana king in his lifetime. His big innovations were related to shipping and selling bananas before they went bad. After fighting United Fruit for years, Cuyamel was bought by the rival for $32 million. But it was just the start for Zemurray, who became the largest shareholder in the company. In 1932, as the company struggled, Zemurray became its head.
Who started the banana craze?
Samuel Zemurray and the Cuyamel Fruit Company shaped the original "banana republic" and launched the American banana craze. Never heard of Cuyamel? It was one of the ancestors of Chiquita Brands International, which still sells bananas today. Zemurray, its founder, was later the head of the United Fruit Company. "He was a calm, handsomely dressed gentleman who enjoyed the arts and hunting almost as much as he delighted in managing all aspects of the banana business," writes historian Paul J. Dosal. But though Zemurray profited greatly from the banana, the people of banana-growing countries did less well. Those two companies shaped the tropical fruit craze that resulted in mass destabilization in tropical-fruit-growing Central American countries.
Who was the founder of the United Fruit Company?
Zemurray, its founder, was later the head of the United Fruit Company. "He was a calm, handsomely dressed gentleman who enjoyed the arts and hunting almost as much as he delighted in managing all aspects of the banana business," writes historian Paul J. Dosal.
Did Zemurray profit from bananas?
But though Zemurray profited greatly from the banana, the people of banana-growing countries did less well. Those two companies shaped the tropical fruit craze that resulted in mass destabilization in tropical-fruit-growing Central American countries.
When were banana republics created?
The first banana republics were created in the early 1900s by multinational American corporations, such as the United Fruit Company, in depressed Central American countries.
What is a banana republic?
A banana republic is any politically unstable country that generates most or all of its revenue from exporting a single product, such as bananas. The economies—and to an extent the governments—of banana republics are controlled by foreign-owned companies. Banana republics are characterized by highly stratified ...
What was the fruit company's role in the Cold War?
During the 1950s, the United Fruit Company played on Cold War fears in trying to convince U.S. Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower that popularly elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán was secretly working with the Soviet Union to advance the cause of Communism, by nationalizing vacant “fruit company lands” and reserving it for the use of landless peasants. In 1954, President Eisenhower authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to carry out Operation Success, a coup d'etat in which Guzmán was deposed and replaced by a pro-business government under Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas. With the cooperation of the Armas government, the United Fruit Company profited at the expense of the Guatemalan people.
Is Honduras a banana republic?
Today, Honduras remains the prototypical banana republic. While bananas remain an important part of the Honduran economy, and workers still complain of being mistreated by their American employers, another product aimed at American consumers has become a challenger—cocaine.
What countries did the banana republics originate in?
Together with other American corporations, such as the Cuyamel Fruit Company, and with occasional support from the United States government, the corporations created the political, economic, and social circumstances that established banana republics in Central American countries such as Honduras and Guatemala.
Who coined the term "banana republic"?
O. Henry coined the term, “banana republic” to describe Honduras and neighbouring countries under economic exploitationby the U.S. corporations such as the United Fruit Company Typically, a banana republic has a society of extremely stratified social milieu comprising a large impoverished egalitarian society.
Where did bananas originate?
It will quite be interesting to trace the origin of this history. It all began with the introduction of the banana fruit to the U.S. in 1870 by Lorenzo Dow Baker who bought bananas which was found to be not only cheaper but also proved to be a nutritious tropical fruit as compared to apples locally grown in the U.S. Gradually, the U.S. tycoons Henry Meiggs and his nephew Minor C. Keith established banana plantations along the rail roads they built in Costa Rica. They began exporting the fruits to the South Eastern U.S. recognising its profitability. In the mid-1870s. Keith founded the United Fruit Company which by 1930s. were able to control 80 – 90% of the banana business in the U.S. due to the global economic and political tensions. By the late 19th century, three American MNCs. Viz., the United Fruit Company, the Standard Fruit Company and the Cuynamel Fruit Company controlled the road, rail and port infrastructure of Honduras where it was called by the name El Pulpa {The Octopus) because of the influence it wielded over Honduran national politics with anti-labour violence.
When was the banana republic invented?
The term “banana republic” was coined in 1901 by American author O. Henry in his book “Cabbages and Kings” to describe Honduras while its economy, people, and government were being exploited by the American-owned United Fruit Company
Who was instrumental in the creation of the Banana Republic?
In the early 20th century, the United Fruit Company , a multinational American corporation, was instrumental to the creation of the banana republic phenomenon.
What does "banana" mean in slang?
If the above uses are indeed fairly literal, there's a possible link from its more generalised and pejorative modern sense to the early 20th century US slang use of "banana" for "a stupid or worthless person , a simpleton" which Jonathon Green includes in his Chambers Slang Dictionary. Green's suggestion that the intended reference is to the softness of a banana could apply equally well to a nation state or economy which is weak, inefficient, ineffective and/or corrupt.