Kemo savy

Posted by Bob on July 15, 2007

In Reply to: Kemo savy posted by Andy England on July 15, 2007

: I would like to know about the origins of the slang "Savy", it obviously means "intelligent" or "on the ball" but I can't work out where this word has come from. The other day I also heard it used with the pre-fix of "Kemo" pronounced "Key-mo". Any ideas?

Savvy. Note the spelling. It's standard English now, not slang. Dictionaries trace it to the Spanish "sabe" or a corruption of the French "save" and ultimately from the Latin sapere, to be wise.

As for kemosabe, what Tonto called The Lone Ranger, I have no clue....

• Tonto Bob 15/July/07