Tonto
nounEtymology From Spanish tonto (“fool, idiot”), the Spanish name for the tribe, a calque of Western Apache kounʼnde (“wild rough people”). The fictional character (described as Comanche or Potawatomi) either from Potawatomi or named after Tonto Basin, Arizona.
1
A sidekick.
- 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).2004, Lee Godden, ZenWise Selling: Mindful Methods to Improve Your Sales, page 141:
- Hardcastle realized he couldn't go it alone and would need a “Tonto.” He found his trusty sidekick in “Skid” Mark McCormack2006, Douglas Snauffer, Crime television, page 130:
1 more example
- So do you have a Tonto in your life? If not, find one and make that person your trusted companion.2010, Stephen Arterburn with Jack Felton, More Jesus, Less Religion: Moving from Rules to Relationship, page 133:
2
A Native American who accepts a subservient position to a white person.
- They called Indians like him — that is, any Indian who tried to make it by working within the system — a "Tonto."1982, Iron Eyes Cody with Collin Perry, Iron Eyes, my life as a Hollywood Indian:
- 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.1999, Ellenor Ranghild Merriken, Looking for country: a Norwegian immigrant's Alberta memoir, page 21:
4 more examples
- 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.2002, Jim Sleeper, Liberal racism, page 130:
- 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."2003, Benjamin DeMott with Arthur Asa Berger, Supergrow: essays and reports on imagination in America, page 11:
- But clearly she's a Two Hearts, not a Tonto.2007, Lisa Alther, Kinfolks: falling off the family tree, page 20:
- In the best circumstances, he was devastatingly witty and slyly subversive; in the worst, he was merely a Tonto with an Afro.2007, Jabari Asim, The N word: who can say it, who shouldn't, and why, page 185: