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Definition 2024
Tonto
Tonto
See also: tonto
English
Proper noun
Tonto
- Sidekick of the Lone Ranger
- A member of the Tonto Apaches.
Translations
Tonto Apache
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Noun
Tonto (plural Tontos)
- A sidekick.
- 2004, Lee Godden, ZenWise Selling: Mindful Methods to Improve Your Sales, page 141:
- Salespeople may see themselves as Lone Rangers, not in need of any help, save for the occasional advice from a Tonto (or technical sales specialist).
- 2006, Douglas Snauffer, Crime television, page 130:
- Hardcastle realized he couldn't go it alone and would need a “Tonto.” He found his trusty sidekick in “Skid” Mark McCormack
- 2010, Stephen Arterburn; Jack Felton, More Jesus, Less Religion: Moving from Rules to Relationship, page 133:
- So do you have a Tonto in your life? If not, find one and make that person your trusted companion.
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- A Native American who accepts a subservient position to a white person.
- 1982, Iron Eyes Cody; Collin Perry, Iron Eyes, my life as a Hollywood Indian:
- They called Indians like him — that is, any Indian who tried to make it by working within the system — a "Tonto."
- 1999, Ellenor Ranghild Merriken, Looking for country: a Norwegian immigrant's Alberta memoir, page 21:
- Once more, Beyond the Survey takes up the topic, introducing a character Mowees (obviously an "Indianificarion" of the common Metis name Moise) who unfortunately never rises above the level of a Tonto figure.
- 2002, Jim Sleeper, Liberal racism, page 130:
- Law Schools, a critical race theorist likened Kennedy to a Tonto figure, the fictional Indian whose loyalty to the Lone Ranger set him apart from, if not against, his tribe.
- 2003, Benjamin DeMott; Arthur Asa Berger, Supergrow: essays and reports on imagination in America, page 11:
- An example: The Black Panther Chairman abuses the black Supreme Court Justice (the latter having just denied a Cleaver plea) as an "Uncle Tom, a bootlicker, a nigger pig, a Tonto, and a punk."
- 2007, Lisa Alther, Kinfolks: falling off the family tree, page 20:
- But clearly she's a Two Hearts, not a Tonto.
- 2007, Jabari Asim, The N word: who can say it, who shouldn't, and why, page 185:
- In the best circumstances, he was devastatingly witty and slyly subversive; in the worst, he was merely a Tonto with an Afro.
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See also
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Tonto (Lone Ranger character) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Tonto Apache people on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
tonto
tonto
See also: Tonto
English
Adjective
tonto (comparative more tonto, superlative most tonto)
- crazy, mad
- 2011, Gil McNeil, Stand by Your Man, Bloomsbury Publishing (ISBN 9781408825914)
- Yes, and then I got drunk one night and snogged one of his friends, and he went tonto.
- 2012, Ken McNab, The Beatles in Scotland, Birlinn (ISBN 9780857902023)
- And when McCartney heard White Trash's version, he went tonto.
- 2014, Ben Elton, Time and Time Again, Random House (ISBN 9781473508323)
- AMERICA! The richest prize on the bloody planet. Gone, for want of a few paltry seats on the cross benches. George the bloody Third wasn't just mad, he was completely tonto!
- 2011, Gil McNeil, Stand by Your Man, Bloomsbury Publishing (ISBN 9781408825914)
Noun
tonto (uncountable)
Italian
Etymology
Adjective
tonto m (feminine singular tonta, masculine plural tonti, feminine plural tonte)
Noun
tonto m (plural tonti, feminine tonta)
Portuguese
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
tonto (plural, comparable)
Synonyms
Noun
tonto m (plural tontos, feminine tonta, feminine plural tontas)
- A fool, a stupid person
Related terms
- tontice
- tontaria