Unknown

mongo (uncountable)

1. (New York City) Still-usable thingssalvaged (bysanmen) fromgarbage.[since the 1970s or 80s]
   • 1984, [NYC]Issue 1-6, page 51:

     The old room was furnished in "mongo," Sanit lingo for stuff picked out of the garbage. Mongo-picking, Ukeles explained, "is against the law. The garbage belongs to the City. But until a recent rehabilitation program, which is the first since the Depression, the Sanmen never had their own furnishings." Prior to the show, the Sanmen voted on the worst facilities in the system and Ukeles selected the exhibitionmongo from them—shabby, broken-down furniture, walls cluttered with cheap […]

   • 2006,Fine Books & Collections, volume 4, page 56, reviewingMONGO: Adventures in Trash by Ted Botha (2004):

     [Mongo] refers to trash, or more specifically, to treasure found in trash: books, artifacts, furniture, even food. Ted Botha's book explores a whole culture, and various subcultures, that revolve aroundmongo. Those obsessed withmongo often live on the margins, […]

   • 2013, Robin Nagle,Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks,→ISBN:

     Loading out on house-to-house can take many hours, but such routes have other perks, especially for someone who likes to mongo. As a noun, “mongo” is Sanitation slang for treasure salvaged from the trash, with an understanding that the definition of “treasure” is both broad and personal. As a verb, “to mongo” is to look for and rescue such wealth. Sal Federici didn't mongo, but he tolerated his partner's predilection for it. Ray Kurtz was not the district's acknowledgedmongo king,[…]

2. (skateboarding) A manner ofpushing oneself on askateboard with one'sfrontfoot as opposed to one'sback foot.

   pushmongo

• Cassell's Dictionary of Slang

mongo (pluralmongos)

1. Clipping ofmongoloid.

Borrowed fromSpanishmongoThisetymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.. CompareTagalogmunggo.Doublet ofmung.

• mungo
• monggo

• (Philippines)IPA^(key): /ˈmoŋ.ɡo/

mongo (uncountable)

1. (Philippines)mung bean

   Synonyms:mongo bean,green mongo

• moong

mongo

1. toeat

Ultimately fromMongolianмөнгө(möngö).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoŋːo/,[ˈmo̞ŋːo̞]
• Rhymes:-oŋːo
• Syllabification^(key):mon‧go
• Hyphenation^(key):mon‧go

mongo

1. möngö(one 100th of tugrik, the currency of Mongolia)

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔn.ɡo/
• Rhymes:-ɔnɡo
• Hyphenation:mòn‧go

Borrowed fromMongolianмөнгө(möngö).

mongo m (invariable)

1. möngö(one hundredth of a tugrik)

Probably ofBantu origin.

mongo (invariable)

1. of or pertaining to theMongo people

mongo m orfby sense (invariable)

1. one who is part of the Mongo people

mongo m (uncountable)

1. Mongo(Bantu language)

• mongo inDizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication

• gnomo

Clipping ofmongoloide.

• Hyphenation:mon‧go

mongo m (pluralmongos,femininemonga,feminine pluralmongas)

1. (slang)idiot

mongo (femininemonga,masculine pluralmongos,feminine pluralmongas)

1. (slang, derogatory)idiot;fool;retarded

• “mongo”, inDicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “mongo”, inDicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed fromGermanMongo.

mongo m (pluralmongos)

1. möngö

• mongo in Academia Română,Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010.→ISBN

• IPA^(key): /ˈmonɡo/[ˈmõŋ.ɡo]
• Rhymes:-onɡo
• Syllabification:mon‧go

ComparePortuguesemungo,Macanesemungo.Thisetymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

mongo m (pluralmongos)

1. mung bean

   Synonyms:judía mongo,poroto mongo

• → Asi:munggo
• → Central Bikol:munggo
• → English:mongo
• → Tagalog:munggo

mongo m (pluralmongos,femininemonga,feminine pluralmongas)

1. (colloquial, Chile, Cuba)idiot

mongo (femininemonga,masculine pluralmongos,feminine pluralmongas)

1. (colloquial, Chile, Cuba, Peru, Paraguay)idiotic,stupid,dumb

   Synonyms:tonto,necio

• “mongo”, inDiccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1,Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish:Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Clipping ofmongoloid. CompareGermanMongo.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔŋɡʊ/
• Rhymes:-¹ɔŋɡʊ
• Hyphenation:mon‧go

mongo n

1. (slang, offensive) a person withDown's syndrome (or often a (congenital and) clearly noticeable disorder more generally)
3. (slang, possibly offensive) anidiot and/orweirdo

   Synonyms:cp,idiot

Less associated with its etymology compared tocp and consequently less likely to offend in (noun sense 2) (thoughcp is often fairly detached from its etymology as well).

• kioskmongo

mongo (comparativemer mongo,superlativemest mongo)

1. (slang)idiotic,stupid

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• Rhymes:Finnish/oŋːo
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