banana oil

[buh-nan-uh oil]

noun

1. Also called amylacetic ether. Also called amyl acetate. a sweet-smelling liquid ester, C 7 H 14 O 2 , a mixture of isomers derived from amyl alcohol and having the characteristic odor of bananas: used chiefly as a paint solvent and in artificial fruit flavors; amyl acetate.

2. Slang.,  insincere talk; nonsense.

banana oil

noun

1. a solution of cellulose nitrate in pentyl acetate or a similar solvent, which has a banana-like smell

2. a nontechnical name for pentyl acetate

Word History and Origins

Origin of banana oil¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Idioms and Phrases

Nonsense, exaggerated flattery, as in I should be on television? Cut out the banana oil! The precise analogy in this idiom is not clear, unless it is to the fact that banana oil, a paint solvent and artificial flavoring agent, has no relation to the fruit other than that it smells like it. Possibly it is a variation on snake oil, a term for quack medicine that was extended to mean nonsense. [1920s]