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Tonk vs Tronk - What's the difference?

tonk | tronk |

As nouns the difference between tonk and tronk

is that tonk is an illegal immigrant of any country while tronk is a prison.

tonk

English

Etymology 1

Origins are unknown, but definitely predate the use of metal flashlights, contrary to the most quoted description of origin. It's probable that the origin is related 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's 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's also possible that the term is related to the Chinese "tong" mob.

Noun

(en noun)
  • (slang, mostly, 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 on 27 May 2006) - The pissed off Arizona land owner who snipes the ' tonk s with a high powered rifle.

    • Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (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

    (-)
  • A matching card game, combining features of knock rummy and conquian.

    • Anagrams

    *

    tronk

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (South Africa) A prison.
  • * 1824 , William John Burchell, Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa
    • It must here be explained that the tronk , or jail, is the general receptacle, not only of convicted criminals, but of such Hottentots or slaves as are found, improperly or illegally wandering about the country...
  • * 1958 , Isobel Rae, The strange story of Dr James Barry
    • The diary of another settler, who had been wrongfully imprisoned in the Tronk , and described the daily life there in no uncertain terms...
  • * 1985 , Lawrence George Green, Maureen Barnes, The best of Lawrence Green
    • It was built, as far as I can discover, because the Cape Argus rightly denounced the overcrowding of the old "tronk" on the waterfront.