Tête à Toto

The tête à Toto is a French typographical design and children's game, well known to French schoolchildren, depicted to the right. 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
la tête à Toto

Translated:

Zero plus zero equals
the head of Toto (Toto's head)

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 mom..."). See Blague de Toto (Toto joke).

Other uses

The term is also used as a circumlocution for "zero", and in prostitution slang for a prostitute, or rather prospective prostitute, who has so far had zero clients; see references at Wiktionary.

See also

References

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