? What does "quimo sabe" mean?
What does "quimo sabe" mean?
11 Answers
Welcome to the forum. That's not Spanish. The correct spelling is Kimosabe. Check out this llink
This is from the urban dictionary. By the way, it is better to write 19th century than 1800s, which to many Spanish and English speakers implies the time period between 1800 and 1810.
The Lone Ranger was a long-running early radio and television show based on a masked cowboy in the American Old West, who gallops about righting injustices, usually with the aid of a clever and laconic American Indian called Tonto, and his horse Silver.
Tonto greets the Lone Ranger with the expression "kemosabe", which has also been written "Kemo Sabe" or "Kemo Sabhay". The origin of this expression is somewhat unclear, but James Jewell, an early director of the radio series, said the name comes from a boy's camp located on Mullett Lake, Michigan that his father-in-law had run from 1911 to 1941. The translation was said to mean "trusty scout." Fran Striker, the writer of the Lone Ranger scripts, said the actual expression was Ta-i ke-mo sah-bee, which he said meant "greetings trusty scout". In the pilot of the Clayton Moore TV series, "Enter the Lone Ranger", Tonto explicitly states that "Kemosabe" means "trusty scout".
Interestingly i just saw this reference in my SAT Spanish book. It says that there is speculation that Tonto might actually by Mexican and the expression "kemosabe" might actually be "quien no sabe" meaning "one who knows nothing"
In which case, the two are actually exchanging insults: Tonto = Fool and Kemosabe = Fool
Lots of answers googling.
I checked on Wikipedia it's spelt kemo sabe. It means loyal scout or friend, but it's not Spanish. By the way, Tonto is called Toro in Latin America, for obvious reasons.
For all those whose theory is that they were insulting each other, this is not true. In those days television was very polite. The Indian and the Lone Ranger worked together as a team and were respectful of each other.
The show was geared toward children, and had a "good" guy wins over "bad" guy theme. There was no "spanglish" used. What Tonto said was in his own Indian language to give the dialogue more authenticity.
They just don't make simple straightforward television like that anymore, which is a pity.
"The Lone Ranger" Was a movie serial which I watched each saturday afternoon
some 70 years ago . One of the Texas Rangers was set upon by the baddies,
badly injured and left for dead. A "friendly Indian brave found him and nursed him
back to health. His mission now was to fight evil with the help of his now trusted
friend "Tonto" , to accomplish this he wore a mask and was called ,
" The Lone Ranger" He often referred to Tonto as "Quimo sabe" ,he who knows,
because he was the only one who knew his true Identity . He had a horse named ,
Silver, and it would rear up as he called out "Hi Ho Silver " and they would ride
off to do battle with the bad guys . Oh they don't make movies like that anymore. 
Gorgok's post might just have nailed it. But the question remains could either of them speak castellano? In which case would they have known they were insulting each other?
It is cowboy Spanglish from a very old TV series call the Loan Ranger.
Tonto = fool Kimosabe = He who knows ( Quien más sabe)
There was a cowboy spanglish in the late 1800's in the "Old South West" USA. It wasn't much more than a collection of words and commands used by Americans, Mexicans and the Indians. By today's standard the words that these two characters used to address each other would not be political correct.
Isn't that what Tonto calls the Lone Ranger?
