Crossword clues for banana republic
banana republic
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"small Central American state with an economy dependent on banana production," 1901, American English.
Wiktionary
n. (context politics idiomatic pejorative English) A small country, especially one in Central America or the West Indies, that is dependent on a single export commodity (traditionally bananas) and that has a corrupt, dictatorial government.
WordNet
n. a small country (especially in Central America) that is politically unstable and whose economy is dominated by foreign companies and depends on one export (such as bananas)
Wikipedia
Banana republic or banana state is a political science term for politically unstable countries in Latin America whose economies are largely dependent on exporting a limited-resource product, e.g. bananas. It typically has stratified social classes, including a large, impoverished working class and a ruling plutocracy of business, political, and military elites. This politico-economic oligarchy controls the primary-sector productions to exploit the country's economy.
A Banana republic is a pejorative term for a country with a kleptocratic government, often with a primitive economy and sometimes a puppet state of a major power.
Banana republic may also refer to:
- Banana Republic, a chain of clothing stores owned by Gap Inc.
- Republica de los Bananas, the fictional country depicted in the board game Junta
- Banana Republic (album), a live album by Italian singer-songwriters Francesco De Gregori and Lucio Dalla
- Banana Republic (song), a single by The Boomtown Rats from the album Mondo Bongo
Banana Republic ( 1979) is a live album of Italian singer-songwriters Francesco De Gregori and Lucio Dalla. It was recorded in their tour of 1979 and released by RCA Italia. Ron collaborated to the arrangements, and also was present as singer in the film shot during the tour.
"Banana Republic" was the first single from The Boomtown Rats' album Mondo Bongo. It peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart.
Breaking from the band's previous new wave sound the song opens with a ska-reggae hook (that repeats at the close of the much longer album version). However, the song itself is a more mainstream piece musically. The ' banana republic' which the song describes is actually a deliberately scathing portrait of the Republic of Ireland, the band's country of origin, and was written in response to the band being banned from performing there. This in turn was reputedly because of Geldof's "denunciation of nationalism, medieval-minded clerics and corrupt politicians" in a memorably controversial 1977 interview/performance on Ireland's The Late Late Show with Gay Byrne.
Usage examples of "banana republic".
Were it not for his porkpie hat, he might have been an officer in a banana republic air force.
What could Hispania, a banana republic no larger than Rhode Island, with a gross national product so small that most of its inhabitants lived hi jungle huts-what could Hispania do to America?
The unfortunate woman, who was sitting on the John at the time and reading the current Banana Republic catalogue, was torn to pieces.
Cordelia scrubbed sweat from her forehead with the strip of fabric she had carefully torn away from the hem of her Banana Republic skirt.
He was in one of his Banana Republic safari suits, a mug of coffee in his hand, grinning ear to ear as Adrienne threw some remark over her shoulder.
Here in the early years of the new millennium, on a state level and in too many local jurisdictions, corruption had attained a degree of rot seldom seen outside a banana republic, though in this case a banana republic without bananas and with pretensions to glamour.