# C'est parti, mon kiki !



## LMorland

*"C'est parti, mon kiki !" *

This phrase is referenced here C'est parti! as _"Sure, let's get cracking!" _but I'd like it to have its own entry in the dictionary.

And also, maybe some of you could offer a slightly different way of translating this phrase?  Thanks in advance.


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## JeanDeSponde

Well - _c'est parti mon kiki_ is basically exactly the same as _c'est parti_ (with some sentence-lengthening assonance). 
So the basic meaning is _here we go, here they go_ - why not _let's get cracking _if it's about beginning a job?...


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## Topsie

We're off (at last)! (?)


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## LMorland

JeanDeSponde said:


> Well - _c'est parti mon kiki_ is basically exactly the same as _c'est parti_ (with some sentence-lengthening assonance).
> So the basic meaning is _here we go, here they go_ - why not _let's get cracking _if it's about beginning a job?...


Thanks, JdS!  

Oh I agree, "Let's get cracking" is perfectly all right. I'd just love something that conveys more of the inherent meanings in this little phrase. 

You see, the speaker of these words is about to set off, for the first time in over five months, in a boat whose mast broke during a round-the-world monohull race last December.  So this sailor is quite attached to his boat, and in a way "mon kiki" is referring to the boat as an extension of himself (in a way that a penis is an extension from oneself).

Maybe "Let's go, baby!" ?

P.S. Topsie, if we can't magically come up with a phrase that reveals a bit of the double meaning, I like your suggestion (which you picked up even without knowing how appropriate it was in this particular situation!).


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## JeanDeSponde

I wonder whether anyone, in France at least, will see a double meaning in _mon kiki_ with some male symbol...


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## LMorland

JeanDeSponde said:


> I wonder whether anyone, in France at least, will see a double meaning in _mon kiki_ with some male symbol...


Ah non ?  Well I was never a French-speaking child, so I have no idea.  I just assumed from reading this thread Ils me montraient leur kiki that the word _kiki_ would have that kind of resonance for a native French speaker.

But I know in English we have homonyms that really _are_ separate and distinct in one's head, so maybe that's the case here?


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## Spleen

JeanDeSponde said:


> I wonder whether anyone, in France at least, will see a double meaning in _mon kiki_ with some male symbol...


 
Yes, I did. Any relation in this sentence ???


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## Grop

Spleen said:


> Yes, I did. Any relation in this sentence ???



I think this expression is quite innocent, except when used in not-that-innocent contexts.

(When I was a kid it would rather make me think of Kiki, the monkey).


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## wildan1

Topsie said:


> We're off (at last)! (?)


 
_We're *off to the races*_ me semble être une tournure qu'on entend souvent dans les mêmes circonstances

_Let's get cracking_ précède le départ/le lancement - _Allez, au boulot !_

(Ma mère me disait souvent _Get cracking!_ pour me faire faire mes devoirs d'école !)


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## Teafrog

And… off we go!


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## JeanDeSponde

wildan1 said:


> _We're *off to the races*_ me semble être une tournure qu'on entend souvent dans les mêmes circonstances
> _Let's get cracking_ précède le départ/le lancement - _Allez, au boulot !_
> (Ma mère me disait souvent _Get cracking!_ pour me faire faire mes devoirs d'école !)


Indeed, _c'est parti mon kiki_ is said *after* the race has begun!

As for _kiki = pénis_ - as Grop said, not in this context! _C'est parti mon kiki_ is plainly innocent. I'm afraid this is a blow to our reputation - leaving aside a possible innuendo...


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## Frenchpastorale

We could add a small detail to this cute "kiki" discussion...
It always implies some JOY....
Have a good day and the enthusiasm of a kiki's start...


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## Tibbie

This phrase is used in chapter 5 of Le Petit Nicolas by one of two radio men. _"C'est parti, mon Kiki."_ All the children of course think the other man's name is M. Kiki. I see the humor on several levels, pet name for Christian, zizi, etc. I am interested in learning other interpretations. So let me know what all of you think.

Thanks!


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## LART01

Let's rock. Let's roll!


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## exiled scot

Just for information, we use the word "kiki" in the border region of Lorraine with Germany for "cul-cul" when talking to a child (example " je vais te taper sur le kiki si tu n'es pas sage")


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## franc 91

Let's get going - starting now - off we go - we're off


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## LMorland

franc 91 said:


> Let's get going - starting now - off we go - we're off


Actually, this same French (Breton) sailor used this same phrase in a video I had to translate just a couple of months ago. (He was sailing the Route de Rhum this time -- and won! 

He seems to say _C'est parti, mon kiki !_ when he's already set sail -- that is, he's well in the water -- but is starting a new phase of a race.  So the last two of franc 91's expressions work best in my context.

Again, thank you all for your contributions.  It was fun to read this thread again after 2-1/2 years!


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## TheMinkey

With apologies to the majority here, the expression "C'est parti, mon kiki !" does *not* mean "get cracking" (get started). That is incorrect.

"C'est parti, mon kiki !" can only be said once one is *already* underway.

LMorland said "... French (Breton) sailor used ... _C'est parti, mon kiki !_ when he's already set sail ..."

LMorland is completely right.  In "_C'est parti, mon kiki !_" the part "C'est parti" means "It's underway!" or "It's in progress!" (examples: We're off! We're on our way! We have a launch!). It could also mean "It's gone!" There is also enthusiasm or joy in the expression.


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## LMorland

TheMinkey said:


> With apologies to the majority here, the expression "C'est parti, mon kiki !" does *not* mean "get cracking" (get started). That is incorrect.
> 
> "C'est parti, mon kiki !" can only be said once one is *already* underway.


Bienvenue au Forum, TheMinkey, and thank you for your very welcome contribution! 

While Wildan (post #9) and TeaFrog (post #11) already emphasized the "already underway" aspect to the phrase, no one before you made this particular distinction so well.  

(I've also gone back to the older thread where that translation first popped up, and referenced your post.  Merci encore !)


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## LMorland

Just a postcript to this thread: I was delighted to see this expression pop up on _expressio.fr_ - _Les exprssions françaises décortiquées.  _Here's a bit of what he has to say:





> Quant au _kiki_, il ne s'agit ici pas de celui de Félix, qui est gros  selon ce qu'affirme vertement Zézette dans _le Père Noël est une ordure_. En  effet, notre formule est complètement équivalente à un _vas-y mon  poussin_ que prononcerait une mère pour encourager son enfant. Or, par le plus grand des hasards, il se trouve qu'en argot _kiki_ désigne aussi une volaille (entière ou ses abattis).


He also cites three points made Cellard et Rey, in their _Dictionnaire du français non conventionnel_.  Here's one:





> les dames de petites vertu utilisaient d'abord cette appellation pour  héler le chaland dont elles ne connaissaient pas le prénom, puis  l'expression pour signaler à leurs collègues qu'elles avaient réussi à  convaincre leur cible et qu'elles disparaissaient temporairement avec  elle.



See: http://www.expressio.fr/expressions/c-est-parti-mon-kiki.php

Happy New Year / Bonne Année !


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## Uncle Bob

I think there are two other problems with "Let's get cracking". As I see it, "C'est parti, mon kiki" expresses enthusiasm but does not, in itself, mean "hurry up" as does "Let's get cracking". Also, if the boat race was last December then "Let's get cracking" is rather dated, as indicated by Wildan's quotation of his mother (and my mother also used it).

As an alternative to Topsie's "We're off!", JeandeSponde's  "Here we go!" seems fine (my contribution is to add the exclamation mark).


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## lacrie

That is a good translation!


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## lacrie

Topsie said:


> We're off (at last)! (?)



That is the translation Topsie!


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## ride7359

"*And *we're off!" to mimic the announcement of the caller of a horse race as the horses leave the gate: "And they're off!"


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## TerryB(le)

Let's go, daddi-o! It's a plan, Stan! (And I'm sure there are more rhyming solutions - all dependent on the context.)


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## joelooc

How about : "Hit it!" ? 
For the "mon kiki" part, which is only there for the (poor) rhyme, one might add : "before it hits you"


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## LMorland

TerryB(le) said:


> Let's go, daddi-o! It's a plan, Stan! (And I'm sure there are more rhyming solutions - all dependent on the context.)


I think _Let's go, daddi-o! _is a great solution! 

(Not so much your second suggestion, not in this context, anyway.)


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## LMorland

joelooc said:


> How about : "Hit it!" ?
> For the "mon kiki" part, which is only there for the (poor) rhyme, one might add : "before it hits you"


Well, "hit it!" seems equivalent in force to "get cracking!", which was explained above to be an incorrect translation for this particular phrase.

According to TheMinky (French-Canadian),


> C'est parti, mon kiki !" can only be said once one is *already* underway.


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## Locape

Is 'Let's go, daddi-o!' still used nowadays? Is it like the French expression something funny and mostly used with children?


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## LMorland

Locape said:


> Is 'Let's go, daddi-o!' still used nowadays? Is it like the French expression something funny and mostly used with children?


Good point -- it's probably a bit _ringard_, now that you mention it. But all it would take is for a popular cartoon character (or Tik-Tok star)  to use it... it would be instantly understood -- at least by North Americans -- and would become current again, at least for a while.

How current is _C'est parti, mon kiki ! _?


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## Locape

It's still used, but in a humorous way. It always brings a smile on people's faces when they hear it, it usually reminds them of their childhood. So it's funny to hear it from a sailor racing La Route du Rhum, not quite the same situation as when you're going to school or on vacation to see your grandparents (nothing to do with a nickname he would give to his boat)!


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## Carcassonnaise

Personally, I wouldn't seek to translate the "mon kiki" at all...  It's not translatable.  I would almost go for some nautical equivalent in that context - "Anchors aweigh!"


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