[AGL] what does Kemo Sabe mean? Could it mean "like I said?"

[Harry Edwards]

According to the original director of the radio show, he appropriated 
"kemo sabe" from the name of a boys' camp in Michigan. Others have 
credited various Native American languages. The Amerindian "scholars" 
could only come up with words that are similar in sound, meaning 
anything from white shirt to soggy shrub. I vote for the boys' camp. 
"Tonto" is most definitely Spanish and does indeed mean fool.           
   twisty d


On Jul 15, 2006, at 2:12 PM, Frances Morey wrote:

> Thanks, Jon,
> I was going on what sound connotation they made for me. I seem to 
> remember "tonto" as fool from my unfinished/failed Spanish classes. 
> South Texans have difficulty accepting Spanish as a second language, 
> at least this one did. It woulda been good to know.
> Best,
> Frances
>
> Jon Ford <jonmfordster at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Frances-- I sent an email about this yesterday. Kemo sabe and tonto 
>> are Amer
>> Indian words--meaning, respectively "my trusted friend" and "wild 
>> one."
>> People assumed they were Spanish words that mean completly different,
>> negative things, ie. "don't know" ("no sabe" ) and "fool."
>>
>> Jon
>>
>>
>> Enjoyed reading about your touch-with-greatness. Hey, how's that for 
>> a theme
>> for discuss amongst ourselves?
>> When I first heard it I thought "kemo sabe" was "My Friend," wasn't 
>> it mi
>> kemo sabe? After I took Spanish it became "Ya' know."
>> A pet peeve of mine is "Like I said..." That drives me up a tree when 
>> I hear
>> someone say it. It's seems so presumptious either to warn the 
>> listener that
>> one is being repetitive, or to suggest that the listener was expected 
>> to
>> hang on every utterance of the speaker. "Like I said," bheh.
>> Frances
>>
>>
>
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