This week’s theme
Fruits

This week’s words
apple knocker
banana oil
razz
sour grapes
peachy

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(buh-NAN-uh oyl)

MEANING:

noun:
1. Nonsense.
2. Insincere talk or flattery.

ETYMOLOGY:

It’s not known why the banana oil earned this sense, although “to go bananas” means to be crazy or wildly enthusiastic. Perhaps the sense arose because the liquid known as banana oil does not involve bananas at all. Instead, it’s a mixture of amyl acetate and cellulose that has a banana-like odor and is used as food flavoring and a solvent. Earliest documented use: 1927.

USAGE:

“Eisenberger insists the timing has nothing to do with political convenience. But that’s pure banana oil.”
Andrew Dreschel; Council Votes to Drag its Feet for a Year; The Spectator (Hamilton, Canada); Nov 25, 2009.

See more usage examples of banana oil in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: