different between zonk vs tonk

English

Etymology

First attested around 1950. Unknown origin, likely imitative, of echoic origin.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /z??k/
• Rhymes: -??k

Noun

zonk (plural zonks)

1. An unfavorable card or token, or undesirable or worthless item used as a prize in a contest or game show (such as Let's Make a Deal).
   • 2003-10-1, Gregory Arthur Baer Life: The Odds (And How to Improve Them), Penguin, ?ISBN, page 237

     There will always be two doors that hold zonks, so regardless of whether you initially chose the grand prize or a zonk, Monty will always be able to show you a zonk not chosen.

   • 2003-12-30, Jerrilyn Farmer, Mumbo Gumbo: A Madeline Bean Novel, HarperCollins, ?ISBN, page 204:

     A live, mane-embellished, SAG-card-carrying lion, I should point out, who was likely being staged for a few minutes off to the side before he would be used as a freaking “Zonk!” on a freaking game show, for crying out loud.

   • 2004, Jay Mechling, On My Honor: Boy Scouts and the Making of American Youth, University of Chicago Press, ?ISBN, page 124

     A zonk was way overdue, yet the boys knew that the Seniors knew they would think this was a zonk and would trick the boys by making this another real prize.

   • 2004, Timothy V. Rasinski, Nancy Padak, Effective reading strategies: teaching children who find reading difficult, Pearson/Prentice Hall, ?ISBN, page 150

     I have three empty coffee cans, two with prizes and one with a slip of paper that says "Zonk."

   • 2006-05-09, Bruce Frey, Statistics hacks, O'Reilly Media, ?ISBN, page 208:

     Avoid the Zonk / On the TV show Let's Make a Deal, contestants often had to choose between three curtains.

   • 2008, Max H. Bazerman, Don A. Moore, Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, John Wiley & Sons, ?ISBN, page 53:

     Once a contestant picked a door, Monty would often open one of the other two doors to reveal a zonk, ...

   • 2009, Victor Shoup, A Computational Introduction to Number Theory and Algebra, Cambridge University Press, ?ISBN, page 217:

     Behind two doors is a “zonk,” that is, something amusing but of little or no value, such as a goat, ...

2. (slang) A feeling of a drug taking hold.

Translations

Verb

zonk (third-person singular simple present zonks, present participle zonking, simple past and past participle zonked)

1. To hit hard [1950].
2. (transitive) To make (someone) sleepy or delirious, to put into a stupor [1968].
3. (intransitive, usually followed by “out”) To become exhausted, sleepy or delirious.

   After two hours of studying, I zonked out.

Derived terms

• zonk out
• zonked

Translations

Anagrams

• Konz

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -??k

Verb

zonk

1. singular past indicative of zinken

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -??k

Etymology 1

Origins are unknown, but definitely predate the use of metal flashlights, contrary to the most quoted description of origin.

It is probable that the origin relates to Chinese immigration, as the first law to restrict immigration from a particular country was enacted in 1882 to limit the numbers of Chinese coming to the United States. It is said that many of the illegal immigrants made their way to the US via the Gulf of Tonkin area of what is now Vietnam. It is also possible that the term is related to the Chinese "tong" mob.

Noun

tonk (plural tonks)

1. (slang, chiefly US) An illegal immigrant of any country.
   • 1990: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, Confirmation Hearings on Federal Appointments: Hearings Before the Committee - An agent, Larry Moy, when asked to define the derivation of the term “tonk,” replied: “...it's the sound of flashlight hitting somebody's head, tonk". [This "derivation" is incorrect - see Etymology]
   • 1998: Cirenio Rodriguez & Enrique T Trueba, Leadership, education and political action, in Ethnic Identity and Power: Cultural Contexts of Political Action in School and Society - "Catch as many tonks as you guys can. Safely. An alien is not worth busting a leg."
   • 2005: EMF (poster on The QandO Blog in response to Illegal immigration made easy, read at [1] on 27 May 2006) - The pissed off Arizona land owner who snipes the tonks with a high powered rifle.

Etymology 2

Noun

tonk (plural tonks)

1. (slang) An item of value, or of perceived value, especially for sale.

   How much tonk have we got to shift?

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

• tunk

Noun

tonk (uncountable)

1. A matching card game, combining features of knock rummy and conquian.

Etymology 4

Onomatopoeic.

Etymology 5

Noun

tonk (uncountable)

1. (slang) A tank.

Verb

tonk (third-person singular simple present tonks, present participle tonking, simple past and past participle tonked)

1. (colloquial, transitive) To knock or strike (a ball) so that it flies through the air.

Anagrams

• Tkon, knot