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The cataloging of sexual euphemisms in rap songs continues. This time:
SEXUAL EUPHEMISM: “Banana Split.”
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DEFINING MOMENT: The recent remix to Robin Thicke‘s “Sex Therapy,” in which Ludacris opines, “Got the banana. Now let me split you.”
LITERALLY: A form of ice cream sundae in which scoops of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream are served between two halves of a banana, split lengthwise.
UNDERLYING MEANING: Vaginal penetration by a penis. There’s nothing sweet about this dessert—-on the track, Ludacris’ treat-based innuendo comes straight on the heels of a bathroom-based euphemism. “I”ll be your one and only lover and your one and only plumber,” Ludacris announces. “When you need me I’ll be moving through your pipeline.”
HISTORY: Luda’s cherry-on-top lyric has been hailed as a “goofy XXX winner.” But the rapper wasn’t the first to invite comparisons between sex and the sundae; in fact, he appears to have picked up the euphemism from a colleague.
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On the 2001 remix to Mariah Carey‘s “Loverboy,” Ludacris showed up alongside Da Brat, who invited her sex partner to “banana split my Dairy Queen.” In a verse that also lends a sexual connotation to Butterfinger candy bars, tangerines, and chickens, Da Brat notes that “bitches be imitating me lately.” Indeed they have.