# KifKef



## Flaminius

I learnt today that KitKat in Israel is called KifKef.  What is the meaning of the Hebrew rendition?


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## JaiHare

Flaminius said:


> I learnt today that KitKat in Israel is called KifKef.  What is the meaning of the Hebrew rendition?



Maybe it's taking the shape from KitKat, but the root of the word is כיף _keif_, "fun." What do you think??


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## baa7ith

KifKef = כיף כף

I guess it's just a saying to mean that the product is fun.


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## Flaminius

Well, the כף part may mean fun, but what is כיף then?


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## baa7ith

Never mind.


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## JaiHare

Flaminius said:


> Well, the כף part may mean fun, but what is כיף then?


I think it's built to sound like a pi'el verb. It doesn't "mean" fun, but it's a verb-sounding name built on the word "fun." With brand names, you cannot expect each part to have a meaning.


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## bat777

JaiHare said:


> I think it's built to sound like a pi'el verb. It doesn't "mean" fun, but it's a verb-sounding name built on the word "fun." With brand names, you cannot expect each part to have a meaning.


 
Actually _kif_ does have a meaning in Hebrew. 
_ten kif_ is the way to say in Hebrew "Give me five".
I'm not sure, though, that this is what the name of the chocolate bar means. I think that _kif_ in _kifkef_ is purely an attempt to alude to the _kit _of KitKat.


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## JaiHare

bat777 said:


> Actually _kif_ does have a meaning in Hebrew.
> _ten kif_ is the way to say in Hebrew "Give me five".
> I'm not sure, though, that this is what the name of the chocolate bar means. I think that _kif_ in _kifkef_ is purely an attempt to alude to the _kit _of KitKat.


But, _kif_ in that expression is simply slang for _kaf_ "palm" or "hand." In _Kifkef_, I think it is related _only_ to "fun."


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## tFighterPilot

No, kif is only used as in "high five"

Kifkef is simply an attempt to Hebrewize (Leavret) the word Kitkat.


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## JaiHare

tFighterPilot said:


> No, kif is only used as in "high five"
> 
> Kifkef is simply an attempt to Hebrewize (Leavret) the word Kitkat.



Of course, _kif_ is only used for that expression. I didn't suggest otherwise. It is slang for that expression, but it is taken from the word _kaf_. Don't you agree?

I also agree that Kifkef is an attempt to hebraize the word KitKat. However, it could easily have been done as קיט קט instead of כיף כף. I think the explanation is clearly that they wanted to draw from the word _kef_.


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## bat777

JaiHare said:


> Of course, _kif_ is only used for that expression. I didn't suggest otherwise. It is slang for that expression, but it is taken from the word _kaf_. Don't you agree?


 
Perhaps _kif_ in Hebrew is also connected to the _kif_ of Arabic, as in: _kif halek_, which, if I'm not mistaken, means 'how are you?".



> I also agree that Kifkef is an attempt to hebraize the word KitKat. However, it could easily have been done as ÷éè ÷è instead of ëéó ëó. I think the explanation is clearly that they wanted to draw from the word _kef_.


 
No doubt.


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## Flaminius

bat777 said:


> Perhaps _kif_ in Hebrew is also connected to the _kif_ of Arabic, as in: _kif halek_, which, if I'm not mistaken, means 'how are you?".


If _kif_ is "how" in the Arabic spoken in Israel, wouldn't KifKef sound something like, "What a fun"?


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## bat777

Flaminius said:


> If _kif_ is "how" in the Arabic spoken in Israel, wouldn't KifKef sound something like, "What a fun"?


 
I have no idea what _kif_ in Arabic actually means. The phrase _kif halek_ doesn't necessarily *literally* translates into 'how are you'.
And in any case, I find it hard to believe that the message behind the name _kifkef_ is as complicated as combining words from Arabic and Hebrew. It doesn't make sense to me, considering the fact that I'm probably not the only native Hebrew speaker that doesn't know the exact meaning of the Arabic _kif_.


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## JaiHare

bat777 said:


> I have no idea what _kif_ in Arabic actually means. The phrase _kif halek_ doesn't necessarily *literally* translates into 'how are you'.
> And in any case, I find it hard to believe that the message behind the name _kifkef_ is as complicated as combining words from Arabic and Hebrew. It doesn't make sense to me, considering the fact that I'm probably not the only native Hebrew speaker that doesn't know the exact meaning of the Arabic _kif_.


As far as I know *كيف* literally means "how." I don't think it's the _only_ word for "how," but it means "how" as far as I know. Maybe someone who actually speaks it can let us know for sure.


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## elroy

Yes, كيف (_kíf_) does mean "how" and كيف (_kéf_) means something like "fun" (כף is a borrowing from Arabic), but كيف كيف (_kíf kéf_) does not make sense in Arabic, so it's unlikely the Hebrew name is a complete borrowing from Arabic.  It's even more unlikely that it's a mix of an Arabic word and an established borrowing from Arabic, for the reasons Bat777 mentioned.  I agree that it is most likely a play on words, using the Hebrew word כף for the second part (many Hebrew speakers pronounce the _a_ in _KitKat _like the vowel in כף) and simply using the same consonants to "complete" the word and get it to sound like the English original.  Besides, the _i_ in כיף is probably short like the one in _KitKat_ (correct me if I'm wrong), while the one in كيف is long, which would further suggest that the first part of the Hebrew name does not come from the Arabic word.


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