'Did you just come up the Clyde on a banana boat?'. I haven't heard that in years. I suppose race does come into that somewhere when you think about it.
My neighbour says "do you think I just got off the boat" when he thinks someone is trying to put one over on him, he is from Ireland so I think it is just a don't you city folk think us country folk are thick.
If someone is racist then they can use even the most innocuous of things as an insult. Some people claim Lord of the Rings is racist, I mean really it could be anything.
So if you say do you think I got off the banana boat, you're asking do you think I'm stupid.
If you say get back to where you come from on the banana boat you ARE stupid.
I wanna know cus I know what I think it means. I believe me im not some one who shouts the race card.
Banana boat (boat), an unpowered recreational boat
Banana boat (ship), a ship whose primary role is the transportation of bananas as cargo
Banana boat (food), campfire delicacy
Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), a traditional Jamaican folk song
Banana Boat, a Polish a capella group created in 1994
A dish used to serve the banana split dessert
A brand of sunscreen manufactured by Playtex
My neighbour says "do you think I just got off the boat" when he thinks someone is trying to put one over on him, he is from Ireland so I think it is just a don't you city folk think us country folk are thick.
If someone is racist then they can use even the most innocuous of things as an insult. Some people claim Lord of the Rings is racist, I mean really it could be anything.
So if you say do you think I got off the banana boat, you're asking do you think I'm stupid.
If you say get back to where you come from on the banana boat you ARE stupid.
Yeah I guess your right. I try very hard not to be a person who jumps on the race card over anything. I dislike people who are like that to be honest. To me race is just a pigment in the skin. But I just did not like the term when I heard it
Okey doke - I've heard it a lot but not for years to be honest.
You just seemed to give a very good answer in reply to someone else that it seemed strange that you didn't understand in the first place.
I think, only my supposition mind, that the people that came on the "banana boat" were usually swizzed by the locals and were seen as an easy target. Not necessarily rascist but the "whites" were opportunistic with them? Maybe.
This rings a bell. I remember hearing tales of how lodging prices doubled suddenly for "outsiders"
I suppose the root of the saying is racist but the meaning has been lost. It is quite common round here (so are banana boats) And means " dont try to trick me i am not naive"
Another strange saying is "working like a slave" which i suppose is a bit insensitive.
Well, as an older woman, it used to mean someone who came here from the Caribbean or Africa. However, the meaning may well have changed over the years, as many words have.
I thought it generally meant about how blacks first got in the country in a nasty way, Isnt it really offensive, Maybe it means something enitrely different in australia.
Not really.
The boats used to be loaded up with very green bananas because of course, if they were yellow they would be bad by the time they arrived here.
The saying originally started out as something similar to Am I that green.....and over the years became twisted to Am I that stupid as people Chinesed Whispered it.
As the chinese whispers changed the saying, they also changed the origins.....
"Its because of the bananas off the boats"......and over time became "Its because of the people off the boats".
It means....am I stupid, am I green, do you think I dont know that.
I always wondered about "green"
My uncle got mixed up once and described his neighbour as "green behind the ears"
Already there are several different answers on this thread alone.
The point I was making was pretty clear and I am sure many of the answers are coming in via the that route and thus far they are all pretty much saying the same thing as I have found using Google :rolleyes:
Not really.
The boats used to be loaded up with very green bananas because of course, if they were yellow they would be bad by the time they arrived here.
The saying originally started out as something similar to Am I that green.....and over the years became twisted to Am I that stupid as people Chinesed Whispered it.
As the chinese whispers changed the saying, they also changed the origins.....
"Its because of the bananas off the boats"......and over time became "Its because of the people off the boats".
It means....am I stupid, am I green, do you think I dont know that.
I think there is truth in what both of us are saying. In my case (do you think I travelled etc) the obvious reference is to a person; in yours the reference 'green' is directed at the cargo (bananas). I love how the English language twists and grows, veers from one meaning to another, same spellings and pronouncement for words of completely different meanings. I don't think it means anything of a racial nature nowadays and I certainly don't think JJ (as dense as he can sometimes appear) had anything insulting in mind.
Well some people have posted and said that term most possible could of been once a racist remark. Might not be now. But it could be
this thread should've been over in one page............some saw fit to show their ignorance either intentionally ( naughty ) or unintentionally ( please use the internet , oops , 'course , you're already on it.....but we don't want to use it to learn stuff do we.....nah , that's a waste.......)
All we want is Facebook , all we want is Facebook,
lalala lalala etc etc
this thread should've been over in one page............some saw fit to show their ignorance either intentionally ( naughty ) or unintentionally ( please use the internet , oops , 'course , you're already on it.....but we don't want to use it to learn stuff do we.....nah , that's a waste.......)
All we want is Facebook , all we want is Facebook,
lalala lalala etc etc
Well I have learned stuff. The term is not one I would like to use
Reminds me of another expression that some call racist now, 'chinese whispers'. I suppose the origin is well lost now, and people only think of it as way to describe a situation not to slur a race.
This rings a bell. I remember hearing tales of how lodging prices doubled suddenly for "outsiders"
I suppose the root of the saying is racist but the meaning has been lost. It is quite common round here (so are banana boats) And means " dont try to trick me i am not naive" Another strange saying is "working like a slave" which i suppose is a bit insensitive.[/QUOTE]
I want to say so much but am fearful I'll put it incorrectly.
The phrase I've highlighted is a term that I haven't seen pulled up on because it's not negative about slaves maybe - it's actually negative about the people that had slaves. Slaves existed so isn't incorrect usage.
The same goes for "banana boat" maybe - the people here looked for the people that were on the boat and made them pay etc more for food/lodgings.
Not being rude about them but, I'll say again because I can't think of another word, opportunistic.
It's not saying "go back" etc
Argggh scared I've put this all wrong and I'm on for a hiding.
no but maybe you don't like JJ and are making mischief. Just a suggestion.
I tink its clear from this thread that it doesn't mean what you thought it meant so you really should ust move on.:)
It's funny how no one other than the OP heard him say it as well. No one in the WHATM thread believes it happened. They are the constant watches and many of them would have been only too happy to post this had John really said it. They aren't.
Comments
No I have heard terms like why dont you **** off on the next banana boat. or monkey get back on your banana boat.
That is the sort of phrase I ment.
I'm from the midlands originally - 39 - but the midlands can't have been getting many boats in!
If someone is racist then they can use even the most innocuous of things as an insult. Some people claim Lord of the Rings is racist, I mean really it could be anything.
So if you say do you think I got off the banana boat, you're asking do you think I'm stupid.
If you say get back to where you come from on the banana boat you ARE stupid.
Banana boat (boat), an unpowered recreational boat
Banana boat (ship), a ship whose primary role is the transportation of bananas as cargo
Banana boat (food), campfire delicacy
Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), a traditional Jamaican folk song
Banana Boat, a Polish a capella group created in 1994
A dish used to serve the banana split dessert
A brand of sunscreen manufactured by Playtex
Yes thats what I have always took it to mean. At least I HOPE thats what it means, I've been saying it for years!
Why the heck can't you understand that the original phrase has nothing like the meaning you are desperate to change it to here.
I really do despair with the education in this country
(Male..54 )
and no , I can't do textspeak.
Yeah I guess your right. I try very hard not to be a person who jumps on the race card over anything. I dislike people who are like that to be honest. To me race is just a pigment in the skin. But I just did not like the term when I heard it
I suppose the root of the saying is racist but the meaning has been lost. It is quite common round here (so are banana boats) And means " dont try to trick me i am not naive"
Another strange saying is "working like a slave" which i suppose is a bit insensitive.
Well some people have posted and said that term most possible could of been once a racist remark. Might not be now. But it could be
Which seems to have made your day :rolleyes:
I always wondered about "green"
My uncle got mixed up once and described his neighbour as "green behind the ears"
as iv said Alf garnett used to say it all the time to marigold
I think there is truth in what both of us are saying. In my case (do you think I travelled etc) the obvious reference is to a person; in yours the reference 'green' is directed at the cargo (bananas). I love how the English language twists and grows, veers from one meaning to another, same spellings and pronouncement for words of completely different meanings. I don't think it means anything of a racial nature nowadays and I certainly don't think JJ (as dense as he can sometimes appear) had anything insulting in mind.
Why would that make my day. What do you think I like finding terms that may offend people
this thread should've been over in one page............some saw fit to show their ignorance either intentionally ( naughty ) or unintentionally ( please use the internet , oops , 'course , you're already on it.....but we don't want to use it to learn stuff do we.....nah , that's a waste.......)
All we want is Facebook , all we want is Facebook,
lalala lalala etc etc
Well I have learned stuff. The term is not one I would like to use
no but maybe you don't like JJ and are making mischief. Just a suggestion.
I tink its clear from this thread that it doesn't mean what you thought it meant so you really should ust move on.:)
It's funny how no one other than the OP heard him say it as well. No one in the WHATM thread believes it happened. They are the constant watches and many of them would have been only too happy to post this had John really said it. They aren't.