The tête à Toto is a French typographical design and children's game, well known to French schoolchildren. It consists of the equation "0+0=0", written with the first two "0"s for eyes, the "+" for a nose, the "=" for a mouth, and the final "0" surrounding, as a stylized face or skull.
It is drawn while reciting:
|
Zéro plus zéro égale |
Zero plus zero equals |
As his head equals zero, it means that his intelligence is null.
The name, or character, of Toto is a common stock character in French culture; he is the generic child used in jokes ("Toto asks his mother..."). See Blague de Toto (Toto joke).
Other uses
- A circumlocution for "zero"
- In prostitution, slang for a prostitute – or rather, prospective prostitute – who has not had a single client (i.e., who has had zero clients).
See also
- Henohenomoheji, similar typographical face in Japanese
- Mondgesicht, similar typographical face in German, consisting of "Punkt, Punkt, Komma, Strich":
. . , –
References
- Merle, Pierre (2005). Mots de passe : dictionnaire de l'argot de la prostitution (in French). Lausanne: Éditions Favre. p. 123. ISBN 2-8289-0835-6.
- La tête à Toto (in French)
- Zéro plus zéro ? La tête à Toto... (in French)