Trivia Question: Origin of "Afghanistan Bananistan"

[Ronald F. Guilmette]

Where did you first hear the phrase "Afghanistan Bananistan" ?

I have a dim recollection that I personally first heard it used as the
secret pass phrase / secret betting signal between two poker players
(George Segal and Elliot Gould) in a now-mostly-forgotten gambling
movie from 1974. But after many google searches I have been unable
to find any origin or original reference for this catchy phrase.

Am I deluded, or does anybody else remember whether that phrase was used
(first?) in the movie in question?

[Marc Dashevsky]

Post by Ronald F. Guilmette
Where did you first hear the phrase "Afghanistan Bananistan" ?
I have a dim recollection that I personally first heard it used as the
secret pass phrase / secret betting signal between two poker players
(George Segal and Elliot Gould) in a now-mostly-forgotten gambling
movie from 1974. But after many google searches I have been unable
to find any origin or original reference for this catchy phrase.
Am I deluded, or does anybody else remember whether that phrase was used
(first?) in the movie in question?

Just a minor correction -- my Google search found a reference
to the movie THE HOT ROCK, from 1972, which has the two actors
you mention.

[Mark Brader]

Post by Marc Dashevsky

Post by Ronald F. Guilmette
Where did you first hear the phrase "Afghanistan Bananistan" ?
I have a dim recollection that I personally first heard it used as the
secret pass phrase / secret betting signal between two poker players
(George Segal and Elliot Gould) in a now-mostly-forgotten gambling
movie from 1974. ...

Just a minor correction -- my Google search found a reference
to the movie THE HOT ROCK, from 1972, which has the two actors
you mention.

Specifically, Marc would have found:

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/amia-l/2003/07/msg00218.html

If you search for the phrase with the more obvious spelling "Afghanistan
Bananastan", you get a greater number of hits, including this relevant one:

http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/trivia/genitals/questions.html

And now that I read all this, I remember that I saw the movie a couple
of years ago (right after 9/11; not a good time to watch that particular
movie, but I didn't know that), and the phrase was used as described on
those two web pages.

[Ronald F. Guilmette]

Post by Mark Brader
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/amia-l/2003/07/msg00218.html
If you search for the phrase with the more obvious spelling "Afghanistan
http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/trivia/genitals/questions.html
And now that I read all this, I remember that I saw the movie a couple
of years ago (right after 9/11; not a good time to watch that particular
movie, but I didn't know that), and the phrase was used as described on
those two web pages.

Hummm... This is all VERY frickin' bizzare, and "The Hot Rock" is most
definitely NOT the answer that I was looking for or expecting, especially
given that (a) as far as I can remember, I have never seen that movie and
(b) as far as I can remember I've never even heard of it before today.

Nontheless, I feel mostly (but not entirely) sure that I did in fact hear
the magic password ``Afghanistan Bananastan'' in a _different_ movie,
released in 1974, starring George Segal and Elliot Gould called `California
Split', in which Gould and Segal play (mostly) compulsive gamblers. (I think
that they used this as a kind of signal when they were playing poker to-
gerater in a single game. I think that it meant ``Bet big now'' or some-
thing like that.)

So now, the big questions are:

Did anybody other than me ever see the movie `California Split' with George
Segal and Elliot Gould?

If so, did it contain the phrase ``Afghanistan Bananastan'' ?

If not, then am I demented and in need of immediate commitment, or did the
brain cells of mine that are directly adjacent to the ones containing the
phrase ``Afghanistan Bananastan'', and that were formerly responsible for
remembering which movie that phrase appeared in have their DNA helixes
irrevocably damaged by some substance that I may or may not have ingested
sometime in the early to mid seventies?

Or did Segal and Gould just decide to borrow and recycle a funny-sounding
phrase from one of their earlier movies (The Hot Rock) when they were
making `California Split'?


P.S. Hay Mark! Long time no hear from! Howz tricks?

[Vince Macek]

Post by Mark Brader

Post by Marc Dashevsky

Post by Ronald F. Guilmette
Where did you first hear the phrase "Afghanistan Bananistan" ?
I have a dim recollection that I personally first heard it used as the
secret pass phrase / secret betting signal between two poker players
(George Segal and Elliot Gould) in a now-mostly-forgotten gambling
movie from 1974. ...

Just a minor correction -- my Google search found a reference
to the movie THE HOT ROCK, from 1972, which has the two actors
you mention.

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/amia-l/2003/07/msg00218.html
If you search for the phrase with the more obvious spelling "Afghanistan
http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/trivia/genitals/questions.html
And now that I read all this, I remember that I saw the movie a couple
of years ago (right after 9/11; not a good time to watch that particular
movie, but I didn't know that)

...
Particularly when, in the helicopter ride through the city, they
showed the World Trade Center under construction...or did before the
movie was run on (surprise, surprise) AMC. (at least editing there may
have been more than arbitrary)

VMacek

[John Harkness]

Post by Ronald F. Guilmette
Where did you first hear the phrase "Afghanistan Bananistan" ?
I have a dim recollection that I personally first heard it used as the
secret pass phrase / secret betting signal between two poker players
(George Segal and Elliot Gould) in a now-mostly-forgotten gambling
movie from 1974. But after many google searches I have been unable
to find any origin or original reference for this catchy phrase.
Am I deluded, or does anybody else remember whether that phrase was used
(first?) in the movie in question?

You're confusing California Split -- which by the by, was directed by
Robert Altman and, in the gambling/poker community, is definitely not
forgotten at all -- with The Hot Rock, with Segal and Robert Redford,
and they're jewel thieves, not poker players.

John Harkness