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Kiki, this word that has totally changed meaning

8/19/2021, 9:32:23 AM


What definition of "kiki" is given in our first dictionaries? A meaning very far from that of today ...

“Doing kiki (kikis) on someone, tickling;

caresses.


Who still says that?

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We can thus quote Jules Vallès, in 1879 in Jacques Vingtras, evoking "

the mother of Jacques

" who "

even gave him kiki in the neck

 ".

Then, a little before 1910, the rhyme of "

the little beast that goes up, that goes up, guili, guili, guili ...

" known to all will

appear

.

It's the same source, both amusing and onomatopoeic.

Read alsoAperitif, a word that has completely changed meaning

What is the origin of the word kiki or quiqui?

On the other hand, who remembers the argotique kiki sold to ragpickers who made broths resold to restaurateurs at low prices?

We already attest to this consumable kiki, also written quiqui, in the Journal des Goncourt.

The latter thus evoked, in July 1856, "

the killers of animals of the countryside

 " who "

before the morning quiqui, drink a glass of blood

 ".

In fact, the constitution of this bubbling kiki, rich in all kinds of listed giblets, the heads of cats, rabbits, or even poultry necks, leaves the idea that we

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