Meaning of "tote"

[all potted out]

"After riding a day and a half, he arrived at Frt Kemah. He ate at the caravanserai and he went in his cell, toting the sack, and fell asleep for a long time."

What does "tot" mean in this context?

[Conchita]

Tote could mean 'carry' here: carrying the sack.

[Alan]

Hi,

It appears that the infinitive of this verb is 'tote' and so the participle form would be 'toting'. The meaning as Conchita says, is 'carry' or 'haul' suggesting the object would be something heavy.

A
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[all potted out]

So...does it mean he carried the sack with him all the time when he was sleeping?

[prezbucky]

meanwhile, "tot" is an entirely different word:

tot = young (or small, or young and small) child

tot = tater tot (shortened/slang form of "tater tot")

What is a tater tot, you ask?

http://www.sonicdrivein.com/menu/favesAndCraves.jsp

The tater tots are, as you look at the picture, to the right of the French fries. The tater tots pictured here are covered with cheese sauce.
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[Alan]

Hi apo,
' he went in his cell, toting the sack ' means that he went to his cell dragging the sack with him and then I presume he fell asleep.

A
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[Pond969]

There is no 'tot' here.... 'toting' is what one does when one 'totes' or 'carries' something. It does not especially connote anything particularly heavy. Indeed, in North America, a small back-pack or carrier-bag is often referred to as a 'tote-bag'.

[Yankee]

I agree with the various descriptions of 'tote', but to me the word 'tot' is also quite common -- it's just not the word used in the sentence. The word in the sentence is clearly tote.

A 'tot' is a very small (young) child.

Hi Tom

Although the word 'tot' can be found in both British and American dictionaries, apparently 'tater tot' hasn't been deemed worthy enough (yet) to have its own dictionary entry (depite the fact that at least you and I know them well). HOWEVER, Wikipedia does have an entry.

Thanks to Wikipedia, I'm now the proud owner of the knowledge that 'tater tots' also exist in Australia, where they are called 'potato gems' as well as in the UK and New Zealand, where they are apparently referred to as 'potato pom-poms'. Somehow, though, I just can't help but prefer the 'tater tot' version.

Amy
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[Alan]

Hi,

Talking of tots meaning small children I am minded to add that 'tot' can also mean a short drink as of whisky. Does this mean that tiny tots taking too many tots (and perish the thought that this would ever happen) would then totter?

A
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[Conchita]

[Tamara]

My dictionary says that tote is also a shorten form for 'totalizator'.
Can tot also be a shortern for totem?

Hmm.
One of the examples for to tote - to tote fair sounds a bit confusing to me. Could anybody comment it?
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[Pond969]

Tamara ... 'to tote fair' does sound confusing and unusual... do you perhaps mean 'tote far'? That would make sense.

Just to follow up on the whiskey reference from Alan, I have always seen that usage when referring to a measure of drink but only, as far as I can recall, in reference to rum... I could be wrong about this, but I think a 'tot of rum' may have referred to the daily rum ration given to English sailor's.

[Tamara]

…Now I’ve luckily found to tote fair… among US Southernisms

to deal squarely

Also, here is an example from the US Midwest :
The two last named were in complete accord, albeit each one was a little suspicious that the other might not tote fair.

http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/lhbum:@field(DOCID+@lit(lhbum30604div44))
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[Yankee]

[Tamara]