Why did Tonto call the Lone Ranger "kemosabi" or"kemosabey"? Does it have an English translation?

It means "trusty scout".

https://tinyurl.com/trustyscout
slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/06/26/kemosabe_meaning_
origin_and_history_of_tonto_s_word_in_lone_ranger.html

liketelevision.com/web1/lonerange/wwwboard/55.html no longer exists

There are various sites that try and find out the true meaning and they vary from 'Trusty Scout', 'Faithful Friend', 'Chicken Shit' and 'Soggy Bush' as in:
http://www.tcnj.edu/~hofmann/kemosabe.htm

Tonto is Spanish for 'stupid' or 'fool.' And Tonto, who was not so tonto, responded by calling the Lone Ranger 'qui no sabe' (with an Indian accent), which roughly translates from Spanish as 'he who knows nothing' or 'clueless' .. chicken droppings.

straightdope.com/classics/a4_061.html webpage no longer exists

"It is usually assumed that Kemo Sabe is how the Ranger refers to Tonto. However, in many of the early radio broadcasts, the Ranger calls Tonto "Kemo Sabe" AND Tonto also calls the Ranger "Kemo Sabe."

A scholar from the University of California at Berkley thought that Kemo Sabe came from the Yavapai, a dialect spoken in Arizona and meant "one who is white," since the Ranger always wore a white shirt and trousers in the earliest publicity photos. The Yavapai term is "kinmasaba" or "kinmasabeh."

http://onthepatio.typepad.com/on_the_patio/2011/10/kemosabe.html


write101.com/kemosabe.htm no longer exists

Interesting piece of trivia I heard years ago regarding Spanish-language insults and I have no idea as to the accuracy of it. Tonto called the Lone Ranger "quien no sabe" (he who knows nothing) and the Lone Ranger called his sidekick "tonto" (fool).

NOTE: Tonto called the Lone Ranger "Kemo Sabe" which was actually a bastardization of the spanish "Quien no sabe". The writers were trying to come up with a phrase that meant "he who no one knows". Instead the phrase means "he who doesn't understand (or know)". Also Tonto in spanish means "stupid". Just fun (and ironic) facts.


tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/004686.php no longer exists

"Kemo sabey" was supposed to be an Indian (native American) word, but the actor who played Tonto said it came from Spanish "Quien No Sabe" - the person who knows nothing.

answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006050308506 webpage no longer exists

While both Tonto and Quien No Sabe both mean, more or less, "stupid" in Spanish, that was not the writer's intent. There is considerable evidence that it was intended to mean something like "trusty scout," as presented at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ke-mo_sah-bee Jay Silverheels, who portrayed Tonto in the TV series, had several lines that explained this:

His reply was invariably, "It mean Trusty Scout!"

There are other speculations outlined in http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/06/26/kemosabe_meaning_origin_and_history_of_tonto_s_word_in_lone_ranger.html, but it seems unlikely that sries writer Fran Striker would have used the term in addressing letters to his own children, if it had meant to him any of the negative meanings.