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""'Star wayno,' says I. 'The little girl deserves it.'"
I don't know any Spanish, but "star wayno" sounds like a
corruption of Spanish for "That's good."
Esta bueno. Very good, probably right on target.
Although it's always hard to guess right with transliterations-and-elisions, since so many renditions sound plausible. I always thought that The Lone Ranger's faithful Indian companion Tonto (Spanish for "blockhead, dunce, fool, half-wit, oaf, simpleton," and a few other derogatory things, according to SpanishDict.com) 's stock phrase Kemo Sabe was derived from the Spanish "Quien sabe?" meaning "Who knows?" All of which we've talked about before.
(I think I recall Clayton Moore, or maybe Jay Silverheels (early Lone Ranger/Tonto actors) giving other explanations about the origin.)
>stock phrase Kemo Sabe was derived from the Spanish "Quien sabe?" meaning "Who knows?"
Given the meaning of "tonto", I've always preferred Gary Larsen's etymology for kemosabe.
Seen it - one of my favorites!
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