force and implications of words like "tonto" and "bobo"
When I look up the word "silly" in the dictionary, I am given "tonto" and "bobo" as possible translations, but when I used them with one of my spanish-speaking friends (granted, I did not call him that), he told me that girls don't typically use these words, and he didn't hear them very often. Is this because they are more forceful than the English word, "silly?" What sort of situations would these words be appropriate?
4 Answers
In Mexico we often say "menso" and then "tonto", but rarely "bobo". When you are very confident with someone and both agree using such words is ok, so just be careful.
Women use those words almost so much as men. 'Tonto' and 'bobo' are just like 'silly', a softer way of calling 'stupid' someone.
¡Yo estoy muy triste porque mi épico fue "The Lone Ranger" y él amigo "Tonto"!.
Now I find he was making fun of his dear friend and collaberator ,my boyhood hero is
a racist, how sad. 
My friend, who is Colombian, has said to me, "play boba" when we have been in meetings when other people are acting out power struggles. In that context, she means, "pretend you don't know what is happening" or "play dumb" (in the second context, she does not mean play dumb in a derogatory way, as she is a highly intelligent woman, but just wants us to stay out of the unecessary fray). I hope that this helps. L.
