béni-oui-oui

French

Etymology

From Arabic بَنِي (banī, “sons of”) + oui oui, thus roughly “the tribe of yes-yes”. Originally referred disparagingly to the Muslim advisers employed by the French in colonial northern Africa, many of whom were servile and therefore ineffective.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /be.ni.wi.wi/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

béni-oui-oui m or f by sense (plural béni-oui-oui)

1. (derogatory) yes man

Further reading

• “béni-oui-oui”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.