Kif-kif is an amusing alliteration of the Maghrib word "kif" which means "like" or "same." French soldiers returning from North Africa introduced it to France during the 19th century. Kif-kif bourricot, which means "it's all the same to the donkey," became a popular and lilting variation of kif-kif. This resigned pack animal, tethered outside of a panoramic restaurant and souvenir shop at the Grand Ballon in the Vosges Mountains, knows what it means.
Vocabulary
un bourricot: a small donkey
un âne: a donkey, an ass; a fool
kif-kif: it's all the same
pareil (-le): same
Recommended reading
Les Mémoires d'un Âne (Memoirs of a Donkey) by the Comtesse de Ségur
©2012 P.B. Lecron
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