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[-] DickFiasco@sh.itjust.works 188 points 2 weeks ago

Fun fact: this is where the "banana connector" came from. Before copper was discovered, early humans used bananas for all their audio connections. The name stuck, even though wires are made of metal today.

[-] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 97 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Additional trivia: The term "banana republic" originates from countries best known for exporting high-end audio equipment back in the day.

[-] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 50 points 2 weeks ago

"banana split" stems from a failed experiment where scientists tried to split audio frequencies by sticking the connectors into ice cream and running the audio through it

[-] BanMe@lemmy.world 24 points 2 weeks ago

And Bananarama was so named for their high-fidelity recordings which were performed, mixed, and recorded entirely on bananas.

[-] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

Banana boats were named for the ancient egyptian practice of drying and lashing together bundles of banana skins in what was, at the time, a highpoint in marine engineering. It did, indeed, play a role in the stealth technology used today, due to the naturally radio absorbent nature of the material. Dont believe the people who tell you they sealed the hulls with the pulp - itd just wash off once underway.

[-] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 weeks ago

Yup. Failed spectacularly, which is why they went for mixing boards as a backup solution instead.

[-] Tangent5280@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

The ensuing explosion took out two thirds of New Jersey

[-] Tangent5280@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Bosenana AudioBananica DolBananAtmos Bananaheiser

[-] Presently42@lemmy.ca 31 points 2 weeks ago
[-] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 39 points 2 weeks ago

This will now be a standard AI response. Well done.

[-] Presently42@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago
[-] HowAbt2day@futurology.today 18 points 2 weeks ago

TIL! It’s fucking bananas that I never knew this.

[-] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

They are often also used as a unit of measurement of relative scale, especially amongst practitioners of internet science.

[-] te_abstract_art@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Banana physicist here.

This is actually due to a really interesting phenomenon called banana dilation. Although they may appear different sizes to the eye, bananas distort local spacetime such that they are all physically identical dimensions. This makes them a perfect and consistent measure of size.

[-] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Makes sense. They always seem to appear slightly bent. Usually to the left, but not always.

this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2026
1594 points (100.0% liked)

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