# Did you know that "banana" was a slur to Asian Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568 "2017-01-19T20:09:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/1 "2017-01-19T20:09:54Z")
A co-worker called me to change his password. As is my custom, I looked around my office for an item to it change to. I had a banana on my desk. I told him that I changed his temporary password to 123BANANA and that he’d have to change it after he logged in. The co-worker is from the Texas panhandle (and talks like it) but is clearly of Asian descent from his appearance. He informed me that “banana” is a derogatory term for someone like him that is “yellow on the outside and white on the inside”. I had no idea and gave him my explanation. I _think_ he believed me. Have you heard of this? Apparently “twinkie” is equally offensive. Poll coming. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/2 "2017-01-19T20:18:28Z")
I wouldn’t argue with an asian person about it but my experience is these ‘color’ on the outside, white on the inside insults are generally intra-racial barbs and meant to accuse the person of wanting to be white or acting white like they think it makes them better than their peers. As someone who changes passwords for people regularly, I’ve found it’s safest to stick with a standard prefix like Temppassword and a mix of 4 or 5 random digits or characters at the end. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/3 "2017-01-19T20:19:02Z")
Just thank the Gods you didn’t have some other food products lurking around you office… ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/4 "2017-01-19T20:23:58Z")
There’s so damn many slang terms out there - most of them rather esoteric/arcane - that it’s easy to accidentally run afoul of _someone._ I knew a guy who occasionally referred to one of his coworkers as “chicken hawk,” because the fellow was short in stature and had some speech mannerisms similar to [the classic Looney Tunes character;](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henery_Hawk) it was good-natured ribbing, but his supervisor had to tell him to stop because (unbeknownst to him) [“chickenhawk” is also derogatory slang for certain gay men.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickenhawk_(gay_slang)) ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/5 "2017-01-19T20:27:48Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I wouldn’t argue with an asian person about it but my experience is these ‘color’ on the outside, white on the inside insults are generally intra-racial barbs and meant to accuse the person of wanting to be white or acting white like they think it makes them better than their peers. Could very well be. He told me that it was his sister that called him “Banana”. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/6 "2017-01-19T20:32:20Z")
Yes. It’s used in the same way as oreo to insult certain black people. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/7 "2017-01-19T20:45:32Z")
Don’t use coconut either. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/8 "2017-01-19T20:47:15Z")
As an Asian, I have never heard this. But I’m certain I live in a more progressive and diverse place than just about anywhere in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![moldmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@moldmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/9 "2017-01-19T21:42:15Z")
Never heard of banana but apple gets thrown around in Indian country. As noted above, it’s one that’s used within the group so not sure if that counts as a racial slur. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/10 "2017-01-19T21:52:31Z")
I’ve heard of it before (and I think Twinkie for the same thing.) Just tell him that it was a [line of sight name](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LineOfSightName). ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/11 "2017-01-19T22:24:53Z")
Thanks to the SDMB, I rejected someone’s request for a username that contained GYPSY. But I would not have known about “Banana” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/12 "2017-01-19T22:29:46Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > There’s so damn many slang terms out there - most of them rather esoteric/arcane - that it’s easy to accidentally run afoul of _someone._ > > I knew a guy who occasionally referred to one of his coworkers as “chicken hawk,” because the fellow was short in stature and had some speech mannerisms similar to [the classic Looney Tunes character;](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henery_Hawk) it was good-natured ribbing, but his supervisor had to tell him to stop because (unbeknownst to him) [“chickenhawk” is also derogatory slang for certain gay men.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickenhawk_(gay_slang)) Chickenhawk, cradle robber, cougar. They’re not really nice terms, but I don’t think they’re that bad, and certainly not bad enough to ban them. That’s silly. As passwords??? A twink or twinkie in the gay community means young and effeminate, or just young and naive maybe, but c’mon - these are common words. You can’t ban English. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/13 "2017-01-19T22:54:11Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Thanks to the SDMB, I rejected someone’s request for a username that contained GYPSY. But I would not have known about “Banana” :eek: Is “GYPSY” different than “Gypsy”, as in the Romani? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/14 "2017-01-19T23:12:32Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > There’s so damn many slang terms out there - most of them rather esoteric/arcane - that it’s easy to accidentally run afoul of _someone._ > > I knew a guy who occasionally referred to one of his coworkers as “chicken hawk,” because the fellow was short in stature and had some speech mannerisms similar to [the classic Looney Tunes character;](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henery_Hawk) it was good-natured ribbing, but his supervisor had to tell him to stop because (unbeknownst to him) [“chickenhawk” is also derogatory slang for certain gay men.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickenhawk_(gay_slang)) Calling him that because his stature and mannerisms remind you of a goofy cartoon character doesn’t also strike you as problematic? In a lot of workplaces you’d get called into HR for a talk if you did that. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/15 "2017-01-19T23:15:21Z")
I think that a sufficiently skilled orator can turn any word into a word of offence. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/16 "2017-01-19T23:21:10Z")
Chinese netizens get incandescent with rage when people eat bananas on YouTube, for a variety of reasons. One being the Chinese gov banned such videos when the girl was meant to be eating it sexily. Another that is is pro-filipino. Chinese netizens are fully as dementedly mind-blowingly insane as American netizens. [Think those newspaper comments frothingly denouncing **Demonrats** and **Rethuglicans**.] ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/17 "2017-01-19T23:26:24Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > As an Asian, I have never heard this. But I’m certain I live in a more progressive and diverse place than just about anywhere in Texas. Given that I first heard used on the Stanford campus, I wouldn’t go pointing fingers at Texas that fast. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/18 "2017-01-19T23:57:16Z")
I’ve heard of it. But, obviously, like Oreo, it depends on context. No one will give you grief if you’re talking about the fruit. I didn’t know it was “white on the inside, yellow on the outside.” I just thought it was offensive because bananas are yellow. Makes sense, though. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/19 "2017-01-19T23:58:25Z")
This was the subject of an entire episode of King of the Hill. I think “apple” in reference to American Indians came up there, too. ---
**Author:** ![greenmario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/97f17d/32.png) [@greenmario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenmario)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568/20 "2017-01-19T23:59:44Z")
I’ve heard it said before, pretty much always by an Asian person to an Asian person, although its pretty tame as for as slurs go. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-banana-was-a-slur-to-asian-americans/777568.md?page=2)