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Informal French Expression
| Meaning | and so on, blah blah blah, yada yada | |
| Register | informal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[ay pah tah tee ay pah tah tah] |
| IPA | [e pa ta ti e pa ta ta] | |
Usage notes: Et patati et patata is an informal – and kind of fun – way to say that someone is running off at the mouth (talking a lot). It’s more of an interjection than an idiom, as it comes from patatin, patata, an onomatopoeia of patte (the leg of an animal), imitating the sound of a horse galloping.
Par exemple…
| Selon Marc, je suis censé faire les achats, aller à la poste, laver la voiture, et patati et patata. | According to Marc, I’m supposed to go shopping, go to the post office, wash the car, and so on and so forth. | |
| – Où est-il ? Qu’est-ce qu’il fait ? Pourquoi n’a-t-il pas téléphoné ? – Et patati et patata ! Calme-toi, je suis sûr qu’il va bientôt arriver. |
– Where is he? What’s he doing? Why hasn’t he called? – Blah blah blah! Calm down, I’m sure he’ll arrive soon. |
Variations
- patati, patata
- et patati ! et patata !
Somewhat synonymous
- bref
- enfin bref
- et ainsi de suite
- et cetera
- et j’en passe
- faire cadeau des détails (à quelqu’un)
Informal - et bla bla bla
- et tout le tintouin
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