banana republic
7
7.9
- noun
- /bəˈnænə rɪˈpʌblɪk/
- Slur
:
república bananera
- We cannot spend 30%-50% of our GDP on health care without turning into a true banana republic.
Because all of this sort of banana like coups and banana republics and massacres, like horrendous.
- Because all of this sort of banana like coups and banana republics and massacres, like horrendous.
- Now he continued with his blueprint for a Banana Republic.
- They are playing with fire right now arguing this is Banana Republic type stuff.
Examples
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Nicaragua does grow bananas, but hasn't been a banana republic in the political sense since 1979.
Blog text (14) -
I hope so too, or this place will become a banana republic in no time.
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We are living in a banana republic with no rule of law.
Blog text (21) -
For the Chinese, the United States looks increasingly like a banana republic by comparison.
Academic text (2011) -
You know how it is in these banana republics.
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If any state has emulated the banana republic to our south, it has been Florida.
Blog text (21) -
You cannot compare our system to those of the banana republics.
Blog text (27) -
In many ways, the government's actions make our country resemble a banana republic.
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Corruption and economic instability are rampant in what many call a banana republic.
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Foreign companies often exploit resources in a banana republic, leaving the local economy in shambles.
Surface Forms
Morphology
banana + republic
The sense 'a small, politically unstable country dominated by a single export and foreign interests' is not derivable from the literal words 'banana' (a fruit) and 'republic' (a state). The phrase is a historical/political metaphor and culturally specific idiom, so learners who only know the constituent words would not predict the pejorative political meaning.
Etymology
Banana republic comes from the early 1900s in Central America, where small countries relied on banana exports and had weak republics that were often run by foreign fruit companies. Because those companies and corrupt leaders controlled the economy and the government, people began to use banana republic to mean 'a small, corrupt country dependent on a single export'.