# What does the French phrase "comme ci, comme ca" mean to you?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-french-phrase-comme-ci-comme-ca-mean-to-you/548300>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 28, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-french-phrase-comme-ci-comme-ca-mean-to-you/548300 "2010-07-28T12:24:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-french-phrase-comme-ci-comme-ca-mean-to-you/548300/41 "2010-07-30T20:26:58Z")

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so-so

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-french-phrase-comme-ci-comme-ca-mean-to-you/548300/42 "2010-08-02T11:05:14Z")

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“Okay, I guess.”

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**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-french-phrase-comme-ci-comme-ca-mean-to-you/548300/43 "2010-08-03T03:58:31Z")

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To me, it means the exact same thing as “so-so”. In as much as “chien(ne)” in French means (in non-slang usage) the exact same thing as “dog” means in English. I would expect anyone familiar with both languages to say the exact same thing. It’s the same exact concept.

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-french-phrase-comme-ci-comme-ca-mean-to-you/548300/44 "2010-08-03T06:28:31Z")

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Note: In French, you can also say _couci-couça_, it means the same thing.

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**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-french-phrase-comme-ci-comme-ca-mean-to-you/548300/45 "2010-08-03T11:24:12Z")

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> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> “So-so.”
> 
> Someone once pointed out that the equivalent terms in other languages is usually a reduplicative:
> 
> comme ci, comme ca (French)  
> asi asi (Spanish)  
> sa som sa (Danish)  
> etsky ketsky (greek)  
> zozo (Dutch)  
> svo-svo (Icelandic)  
> sa sa (Swedish)  
> asim-asim (Portuguese)  
> zozo (Afrikaans)  
> ma made (Japanese)  
> mamahuhu (Chinese)

Hindi: ठीक-ठाक (ṭhīk-ṭhāk)

The Danish one should be “så som så”.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-french-phrase-comme-ci-comme-ca-mean-to-you/548300/46 "2010-08-03T13:37:23Z")

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> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#):
>
> Note: In French, you can also say _couci-couça_, it means the same thing.

Stop it, that tickles.

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