A word used to describe a person, usually a college kid, who are newly exposed to the world around them and constantly in awe of their experience. For many, this is a state of being prior to froyo.
"I once left 15 messages trying to get a hookup to call me back. Those are my proto years in college."
Proto is the same as ni**a, but for white people. The word is discriminating if used by a non white person.
Whites often use this instead of ni**a when preforming lyrics.
Originates from Scandinavia when the immigrants called the white people potatoes because of their skin colour. Later the white people started using the word proto about them self like the way black people call themselves niggas.
A Proto is a white person from North Europe.
Proto is often used to replace nigga when performing a rap lyric.
Black people will offend a white person by calling them proto, because they are referring to the word Potato and discriminating against their race.
A proto lifestyle includes doing stereotypical Scandinavian things like going cross-country skiing.