Meaning
What does Toot Sweet mean?
Toot sweet is the phonetic transcription of the French expression “Tout de suite” literally meaning “At once”.
“Toot sweet” is used in the same manner as the phrase Post Haste, highlighting the urgency of an action that should be and shall be performed immediately.
Origin
What's the origin of Toot Sweet?
“Tout de suite” has been in use in the French language for centuries, however, due to the inherent rivalry between the Brits and the French, inhabitants of the British Isles have been famously reluctant to adopt expressions from the other side of the English Channel.
The phrase was adopted into the English lexicon by the American soldiers serving in France during World War 1 in 1917.
It is here, that the first documentations of “Toot sweet” emerge, visibly Americanized in its spelling.
Spread & Usage
How did Toot Sweet spread?
During the 1920’s, the popularity of “Toot sweet” exploded in the United States, becoming a hallmark of the slang of the era.
Despite this, by the time The Big Sad hit the US economy, the prevalence of the expression started to dwindle.
“Toot sweet” was famously revived in 1968, thanks to the British musical-fantasy movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, an adaptation of Ian Fleming’s novel.
The movie featured a musical scene, where actors are singing about “Toot sweets”, an edible pipe-like sweet, straight out of the wildest dreams of the Kazoo Kid.
“Toot sweet” today still retains some level of popularity and is widely recognized, although it is not nearly as prevalent as a century ago.
It was first defined on Urban Dictionary on May 24th, 2006, with several other entries appearing on the site since then.