Word Type: Noun / Slang
Definition: An ethnic Chinese person who speaks primarily English and cannot fluently speak, read, or write Chinese.
Example: He couldn’t read a single character on the menu, total banana!
History & Origin:
A visual metaphor describing someone who is “yellow on the outside, white on the inside.” It emerged in post-colonial Malaysia and Singapore as English-medium education and Western media led to a generation growing up in full English environment and detached from native dialects.
Usage Tip:
Being banana doesn’t mean we speak ‘proper’ English! Most bananas also have very strong Malaysian accent and speak Manglish.
Have you noticed I used ‘we’? Yes, i am a banana myself. Sadly, the new generation of Malaysians are being turned into bananas due to western impact.