Go bananas means to go crazy, either with anger or with excitement. The situation tells you which: Dad went bananas about the scratch means he was furious, while the fans went bananas means they went wild with joy. The phrase is informal and playful, and it has nothing to do with actual bananas.
When would you say go bananas?
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go bananas (about/over + noun); go bananas when + clause; drive someone bananas
- Dad went bananas when he saw the scratch on his new car.
- The fans went bananas when the band came back on stage.
- The kids went bananas over the new puppy and played with it all day.
What changed
First versionWhen I told my boss about the mistake, he became bananas.
RevisionWhen I told my boss about the mistake, he went bananas.
Become seems like the natural verb for a change of state, so he became bananas looks logical. But in phrases like this the change is expressed with go: go crazy, go mad, go bananas. With became, the phrase doesn't work.
Go crazy and go mad can also describe anger or excitement, but they sound more ordinary. Go bananas is more vivid and jokey, so it suits a story told to a friend, while an email to a colleague needs something neutral: My manager was very upset about the delay.
Your turn
When the referee cancelled the goal, the fans went ___.
Show the answer
bananas — The phrase always has bananas with an s at the end, working like the adjective crazy. Banana in the singular is just the fruit, and went banana means nothing.
Write about a time someone reacted wildly. Say who it was and what caused the reaction.
My little brother went bananas when he found a puppy under the Christmas tree.
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