Contents

• About
• Origins
  • Transcript of the video in French
  • Translation in English
• Aftermath
• Parodies
• Search Interest
• External References

About

« Tequila, Heineken, pas l'temps d'niaiser ! » (Tequila, Heineken, no time to kid around!) is a catchphrase uttered by Momo in a viral video shot in Montréal, Québec.

Origin

On 13 August 2012, Momo (a resident of the neighborhood of LaSalle in Montréal) was partying at the Club Copacabana in Montréal, Québec. A young woman trying to get footage for an event promotion agency decided to interview him. Momo saw her and told his cousin he would dare to go talk to her. Visibly drunk, his interview went as following^[1]:

Transcript of the video in French

Woman : Salut, comment ça va ?
Momo : Ça va bien, toi ?
Woman : Ça va bien, merci. Est-ce que… tu viens souvent ici ?
Momo : Quoi ?

[…]

Momo : Dixième fois.

Woman : Bonsoir, ça va bien ?
Momo : Tequila, Heineken, pas l'temps d'niaiser !
Woman : Qu'est-ce que tu penses de notre événement au Candy ?
Momo : L'événement est incroyable !
Woman : Mais pourquoi ?
Momo : Moi là, moé là, j'veux rajouter qu't'aimes ça, là, l'événement… avec des grouillades*, là !
Woman : Qu'est-ce que tu penses de la musique ?
Momo : La musique est incroyable, ça me fait bouger en tabarnak, lô ! Chais même pas quoi faire maintenant, là; ça me fait tellement bouger que c'est incroyable !
Woman : Tu viens souvent ici ?… Tu viens souvent ici ?
Momo : Tout le temps À chaque samedi, chuis là !
Woman : Vendredi non ? Les vendredis non ?
Momo : Ouais. Tout l'temps, tout l'temps, tout l'temps, tout l'temps. Ça s'passe, ça s'passe. Copacabana, c'est la place là ! Essaie pas de niaiser, là !
Woman : Est-ce qu'il y aurait un événement que tu aimerais qu'on refasse ?
Momo : Ouais. L'événement Vybz Kartel To The Top. Filme mes pieds ! The Clarks ! Clarks !
Woman : J'te souhaite une très belle soirée, amuse toi bien !

* Momo inadvertantly made popular again a somewhat forgotten French word, grouillade (wriggle, milling). It's a deverbal noun derived from the verb grouiller that means to wriggle or to mill. The pronominal verb se grouiller means to hurry up in a colloquial way, like Get a move on! or Chop chop! There exists also the noun grouillement, that rather refers to the sound the movement makes. The term grouillade may have been recorded in writing for the first time in the Journal de guerre, 14-18 of Henri Désagneaux (1971).

Translation in English

Woman : Hi, how are you doing?
Momo : I'm doing fine, you?
Woman : I'm doing fine, thanks. Do you… you come often here?
Momo : What?

[…]

Momo : Tenth time.

Woman : Good evening, all is well?
Momo : Tequila, Heineken, no time to kid around! [pas l'temps d'niaiser !]
Woman : What do you think of our event at the Candy?
Momo : The event is incredible!
Woman : But why?
Momo : Me… me… I wanna add that you like that, there, the event… with wriggles! [grouillades]
Woman : What do you think of the music?
Momo : The music is incredible, it makes me move like hell! I dunno what to do now; it makes me move so much it's incredible!
Woman : You come often here?… You come often here?
Momo : All the time! I'm here every Saturday!
Woman : Friday no? Not on Fridays?
Momo : Yeah. All the time, all the time, all the time, all the time. It happens, it happens. Copacabana, it's the place to be! Don't try to kid around! [niaiser]
Woman : Would there be an event you would like us to do again?
Momo : Yeah. The event Vybz Kartel To The Top. Shoot at my feet! The Clarks ! Clarks !
Woman : I wish you a very good evening, enjoy yourself!

Aftermath

Momo instantly got very famous in Québec. Shortly after the video, people would stop him in the streets to take pictures with him. He also told his parents, who were not quite proud to see him drunk on camera.

In the month following the virality of his interview (September 2012), Momo was invited to tour the bars of Montréal (Pas l'temps d'niaiser Tour)^[1].

He talked to people in the streets:

He even showed up at the birthday of Steven Larivée at the restaurant Paolo Gattuso in Laprairie:

Momo worked at the Airport of Montréal (YUL) for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (Administration canadienne de la sûreté du transport aérien), and as such was seen by many people. One such people was the famous humorist Sugar Sammy, that made a selfie with him in 2017:

In 2020, he was yet again seen working at the airport:

Ten years after the original video, in 2023, Momo was hired to advertise the hot sauce MTHELL.SHOP on TikTok^[2]:

Parodies

Every St. Sylvester, just before the New Year, it is traditional for Quebecers to watch a program called Bye Bye that mocks the happenings of the year that just ended. The Bye Bye 2012 in particular was rich in comedic sketches due to the 2012 Quebecer Spring. There was also a sketch that parodied Momo, using in his role the president of the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec, Léo Bureau-Blouin:

Woman : Bonsoir, ça va bien ?
Léo Bureau-Blouin : Limonade, racinette*, pas l'temps d'tergiverser !

* Racinette is a rather formal way to say root beer in Québec French. Saying it directly in English would be more colloquial. In this case, it was to mock Léo Bureau-Blouin as an old soul despite his young age, so he spoke like a middle-aged man.

Woman : Good evening, all is well?
Léo Bureau-Blouin : Lemonade, root beer, no time to prevaricate!

The prevarication in question refered to the long hours of negociations between the student representatives and the government of Jean Charest during the 2012 Quebecer Spring.

In 2020, Jeff Gagnon made this parody of Momo:

In 2021, the actress Ariel Charest lip-synced Momo's video^[3]:

In 2022, Kevin Vincent also immitated Momo:

In 2025, Dan Amozig synced Momo with his guitar:

In 2023, Jimmy also lip-synced Momo:

In 2026, Alisonator also imitated Momo with an iced cappuccino from Tim Horton's:

Cultural Impact

Two bands in Québec reused grouillade after Momo popularized the word again:

• An album called Grouillades (2020), from the band Clay and Friends (soul, funk, hip-hop) based in the neighborhood of Verdun in Montréal.

• A song called grouillades from Teets (2023), an electronic music producer based in Montréal.

Momo also appeared in person in:

• The videoclip Focus from Sammy Bagdad, Starky Starks, Baxter Dexter and Pharaon (September 2012).

Search Interest

References

^[1] BOURDON, Philippe. « Fier de pas avoir l'temps de niaiser ! », Journal de Montréal, 22 August 2012, URL : https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2012/08/22/un-million-de-clics-en-une-semaine

^[2] DUPÉRÉ, Léa-Ève. « Momo de «Tequila Heineken» est de retour dans un TikTok », Journal de Montréal (Le Sac de chips), 7 August 2023, URL : https://www.lesacdechips.com/2023/08/07/momo-de-tequila-heineken-est-de-retour-dans-un-tiktok

^[3] « La comédienne Ariel Charest fait une relecture de la vidéo Tequila Heineken pas l’temps d’niaiser », Petit Petit Gamin, 10 February 2021, URL : https://www.petitpetitgamin.com/2021/02/10/la-comedienne-ariel-charest-fait-une-relecture-de-la-video-tequila-heineken-pas-ltemps-dniaiser/