# toco for yam

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. Retribution; punishment.

## Etymology
See toco (“corporal punishment”); but the construction is uncertain and has been variously explained in slang dictionaries. It may have the sense of one thing given for another in retribution (like tit for tat), or may suggest a beating given instead of food (yam being food in West Indian pidgin).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/toco-for-yam