# kemosabe **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 23, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kemosabe/156904 "2003-02-23T03:56:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vjg2nd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f07891/32.png) [@vjg2nd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vjg2nd)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kemosabe/156904/1 "2003-02-23T03:56:52Z")
Todays New York Times Sunday Crossword puzzle clue is"Language in which “kemosabe” means “white shirt”? The answer as supplied by Nancy Salomon the creater of the puzzle and Will Shortz the editor is Apache. That is as good as an answer as you are going to get. VJG:) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kemosabe/156904/2 "2003-02-23T13:22:51Z")
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, **vjg2nd** , glad to have you with us. It’s helpful, when you begin a thread, to provide a link to the Column that you are discussing, helps to keep everyone on the same page (so to speak). In this case, it’s [In the old Lone Ranger series, what did “kemosabe” mean?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_061.html) You comment: > [@](#): > > That is as good as an answer as you are going to get. I’m not sure what you mean by that – depends on which question you’re talking about it. If you mean answer to the question “In what language does _kemosabe_ mean _white shirt_?”, then you’re right, I guess. But if you mean answer to the question , “What does _kemosabe_ mean?”, then I think Cecil’s answer – including information from the guy who wrote it into the radio show, and experts in Native American languages – has it all over Mr Shortz’s (much as I admire the Puzzle Master.) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kemosabe/156904/3 "2003-02-23T16:42:53Z")
Don’t blame Ms Salomon. I wrote her this morning and she replied that **Will** was the author of that clue. I’ll write to him next. ---
**Author:** ![Rogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rogg)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kemosabe/156904/4 "2003-03-01T19:41:40Z")
How about the Spanish “qui me sabe”, “one who understands me?” (I dont speak Spanish…) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kemosabe/156904/5 "2003-03-01T20:16:23Z")
Cecil’s column covers “qui no sabe”, same idea. And, fer cryin’ out loud, we got a column that traces the word back to the original writer, who got it from the name of a camp, and we’ve got some experts in native american languages tracing it from there… what more do you want? No, really, it’s from “chemo-salve A,” the first of a series of vitamin-replacing ointments used during cancer treatments. No, no, I’m wrong, it actually came from a Japanese drink made by mixing tea and sake – “tea, more sake.” Oh, wait, perhaps it comes from Moe of the Three Stooges fame. When he was young, he had a job as a locksmith, and acting was just a hobby, so they called it “Key Moe’s Hobby.” OK, my point is that you can find all sorts of puns and stretchs of the imagination to try to explain the meaning, but Cecil tracked it to the PERSON WHO ORIGINATED IT in the TV show. What more origin do you need? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kemosabe/156904/6 "2003-03-02T16:42:57Z")
After posting the question on the NYTimes crossword puzzle forum, I see that the reply is: > [@](#): > > Will Shortz writes that he is inclined to believe that Cecil Adams is right and that “kemosabe” is derived from Ojibwa. But apparently the word means something like “white shirt” in Apache, even if this is coincidental, so the clue as phrased is not completely off. As **Dex** says, it depends on what question you’re asking. Cecil, as usual, is proven right again.