Full tonto????

[ancientgran]

Am I unreasonable to have no idea what Ben Wallace means? The only Tonto I know is The Lone Ranger's partner, highlight programme for me back in the 50s/60s.

It sounds like it is insulting but Tonto was good, why would you use that in a negative way or am I missing another connection.

I'd normally ask teenage grandson to explain but he's away so hoping MNetters can put me right on this one.

ancientgran

Poor Tonto, why would you give a nice character a name like that.

I agree with @TorringtonDean Putin is bad not mad.“

Would have agreed too, until that batshit crazy speech a couple of days ago. Now, I think mad and bad.

I definitely have more of a problem with Putin than Ben Wallace.

the video was disgusting - OK it wasn't an official speech, but Wallace appeared to be speaking in an official capacity with members of the military but the jokey tone, the "send the Ghurkas in" comment - the man is not fit to be defence secretary, and should resign or be sacked.

I certainly don't want someone like Penny Mordaunt back in the job.

She lied about didn't even know the rules of EU membership.

I use “full tonto” for mad but more usually in the context of “testing at 4dpo”, not warmongering dictators.

It was a pretty common phrase around the 90s.

I hadn’t realised until yesterday that Putin has become increasingly paranoid. There are quite a few articles out there written about him. He has become increasingly isolated & allows very few people near him. So he is reliant on what the people around him tell him - which may not be 100% accurate. He doesn’t use the internet & will rarely write anything down. If someone external to the inner circle wants to see him they have to isolate for 2 weeks (covid). The big long table is a visual statement of the state of his mind it seems.

Macron said after meeting him that he is not the man he met in 2019. He does sound rather unwell tbh. Not really the person you want in charge of a large nuclear arsenal.

I can’t stop thinking about those poor people in Ukraine.

Ben Wallace is ex army and this sounds like army chat. I like BW. He's solid.

I wouldn’t usually link to the spectator but this is a good summary www.spectator.co.uk/article/has-putin-lost-the-plot/amp

From thefocus.news

UK defence secretary Ben Wallace claimed Vladimir Putin had gone “full tonto” by ordering troops into Ukraine, but what’s the meaning of the term?

While talking to British troops, the defence secretary claimed Russian president Vladimir Putin “has gone full tonto” as Wallace, a Scots Guards officer in the 1990s, compared the present situation to Tsar Nicholas I’s activity during the Crimean War.

“The Scots Guards kicked the backsides of Tsar Nicholas I in 1853, we can always do it again,” he brazenly declared.

I am more puzzled by last statement from the UK Defence Secretary - perhaps he has 'gone full tonto'?

Oh the irony? According to Wikipedia, Tonto in Lone Ranger was so named when the author Trendle "gained the name 'Tonto' from the local Potawatomi, who told him it meant "wild one" in their language." So it would seem as the characters name wasn't derived from Spanish.
AIBU? According to WordHippo aibu is a swahili word related to shame or shamelessness. Its also a surname in Japan e.g. Saki Aibu. Full credit for being on the lookout for insensitive or offensive language, but we should be careful not to go full ... oh nevermind!

Full credit for being on the lookout for insensitive or offensive language, but we should be careful not to go full If that's for me maybe read the OP, I wasn't "on the lookout for insensitive or offensive language" I was puzzled because the only Tonto I knew of was the character in The Lone Ranger and I couldn't understand the connection as Tonto was a good character and Wallace was clearly using it as a negative

@MrsJackRackham

Going tonto in Scotland means giving someone a big row. 'I stayed out all night and my mum went full Tonto on me' Don't know it's origin, maybe comparing the rage of a hundred native Americans charging at you?

Given that Ben Wallace was a Scots Guards officer, I think this is more likely than any Spanish connection.

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

From thefocus.news

UK defence secretary Ben Wallace claimed Vladimir Putin had gone “full tonto” by ordering troops into Ukraine, but what’s the meaning of the term?

While talking to British troops, the defence secretary claimed Russian president Vladimir Putin “has gone full tonto” as Wallace, a Scots Guards officer in the 1990s, compared the present situation to Tsar Nicholas I’s activity during the Crimean War.

“The Scots Guards kicked the backsides of Tsar Nicholas I in 1853, we can always do it again,” he brazenly declared.

I am more puzzled by last statement from the UK Defence Secretary - perhaps he has 'gone full tonto'?

I would not rely on that site as a new source myself. There is no indication of when and in what circumstances Wallace said this. It's just a random quote pulled out of the air.

apologies. my comment was directed at the conversation in general, not any single individual i was only saying that it appears that are no negative connotations pertaining to the name or character of Tonto. To be honest, i wouldn't even know what describing someone as going full Tonto (in terms of referring to the character as opposed to the Spanish word) would mean.

@jimmydurham

You can watch Wallace say it here, - from the BBC

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-60496122

I read that ‘kimosabe’ was a mispronunciation of ‘quien no sabe’ - which means ‘one who knows nothing’ - so maybe they were just two guys who had been together for a realllly long time.