Distinction Poem by Douglas Scotney

'It is easy to see where 'cockle' came from:
French for 'shell' is 'coquille';
but why
is 'kif-kif'
French for 'much-of-a-muchness.? '

'A Guy* on a beach
was picking up shells,
looking for one with valeur (distinction) .
He rejected each,
saying 'kif'.
When he realised they were all the same,
all but two of his kifs he rejected.
That, more or less,
is why.'

'And if he had just said 'i'? '

* pronounced 'ghee'