Contents

• About
• Transcript of the video in French
  • Approximative English translation
• Parodies
• Cultural Impact
• Image Gallery
• Search Interest
• External References

About

Un mot pour Kevin (French: A Word for Kevin), sometimes also Bonne fête Kevin (French : Happy birthday Kevin) is a viral video uploaded on 28 September 2008 on the YouTube channel of Soper666 about a birthday party for Kevin Lavoie filmed in Saguenay, Quebec. At the time, it was his 24th anniversary, and he appears at the end of the video in a jacuzzi.

The video is particularly famous for the catchphrase « Envoye Kevin, continue comme çô ! » (Hurry up, Kevin, keep goin'! in slang Quebec French) uttered by Claude Asselin. The video also caught attention for the mysteries it contained, like a snake that was about to be sold or how a girl needed to deploy great efforts to kiss Kevin.

Transcript of the video in French

Their drunkeness and bad quality of the sound makes some moments hard to catch. Note that in Quebec French, fête generally means anniversaire (birthday) and is not distinct from it in most contexts. In France, there would be a distinction and the former would refer to the day the saint with the same name would be celebrated in the Catholic liturgical calendar.

Hey, on dit toutte un mot pour Kevin, câlisse, en commençant par toi BD. Dis un mot pour Kevin.

- Kevin, bonne fête mon tabarnak. T'es un osti de trou de cul.

Remarque-y la face Kevin; c'est lui.

- C'est moi.

- Kevin, chuis content d'être venu chez vous; ça fait longtemps j'voulais venir.

- Bonne fête Kevin, esti.

Envoye, esti, un mot pour Kevin.

- Bonne fête mon Kev, esti. Fais attention à toé. 24 ans, ça passe vite en criss.

Un p'tit mot pour Kevin ?

- Mange d'la marde.

Envoye, toé.

- J'mange ma saucisse.

Envoye, j't'la r'donne à manher [manger] ta saucisse ! [???]

Toi, [???] Kevin.

- [Claude Asselin] Envoye Kevin, continue comme çô !

Envoye esti, on veut un p'tit mot pour Kevin ! Un p'tit mot pour Kevin, le gros !

- Hey Kevin, bonne fête man !

Toé ?

- Hey Kevin, bonne fête. J'suis sûr que tu t'attendais pas à ce que je soye là, hein ?

Non ! Moé non plus !

- Sti qu'le gâteau était bon hein ?

Hey sérieux, y'en reste encore plein !
Hey toé, un p'tit mot pour Kevin !

- Hey Kevin, bonne fête man ! J'te connais pas mais c'pas grave. C'est ben aimable, j'te respecte de m'avoir invité même si tu m'as pas invité.

Toé ? Hey, vous deux en même temps !

- Kevin bonne fête, j't'aime bien.
- Bonne fête !
- Merci bien pour la brosse, c't'ait bien aimable de ta part !

Un p'tit mot pour Kevin, Christelle ?

- Bonne fête Kevin ! Super belle soirée, ch'peux rien d'mander d'plus.

Quentin, un p'tit mot pour Kevin.

- Salut mon chum. T'as un beau serpent; m'as te l'acheter dans deux semaines.

Non, un mot pour Kevin, pas pour moé.

- Kevin bonne fête; ch't'aime. T'es un esti d'bon gars, pis fais attention à ta peau. Salut !

'tention à ta peau.
Hey toi, un p'tit mot pour Kevin.

- Bonne fête Kevin !
- J't'souhaites bonne chance dan'a vie, sti !

Hey, [Duf ?], un p'tit mot pour Kevin !
- Kevin bonne fête ! J'content d'être icitte.

Hey toé… a s'sauve, a s'sauve en maudit elle ! Hey là ! Faut qu'tu dises un p'tit mot pour Kevin ! Envoye, un p'tit mot, rien qu'un p'tit !

Hey ! Un p'tit mot… pour la fête à Kevin pis la tienne en même temps ? Un p'tit mot pour Kevin ? Là tu dis un p'tit mot pour Kevin.

- Bonne fête man, t'es un esti de bon gars.
- La première fois que je l'ai rencontré, j'avais envie de le frencher…

Yeah ! Hey, toi aussi.

- …pis ça a tellement été des efforts soutenus…

Pour le frencher ?

- …non ! Ça a tellement été long pis ça m'a tellement pris d'efforts, pis j'ai tellement eu le temps d'en prendre qu'en fin de compte c'est lui qui a fini par me dire deux mois plus tard, de peine et de…

Y'a dit quoi ? C'est quoi… c'est quoi que y'a fini par dire ?

- J'ai qu'e'qu'chose à te dire, man. Ta p'tite barbe, là, ça fait un boutte [???] dans le spa.

Hey Virginie ! Un p'tit mot pour Kevin ?

- Hey Kevin, esti ! [???] Bonne fête !
- [Kevin Lavoie] J'ai 24 ans. C'est ma fête !

Toé t'es-tu content, l'gros ?

- Hein ?

Toé t'es-tu content ?

- Moé ch'content, man. C't'un beau party. Donne-s-y donc une carte d'invitation.

Crisse bonne fête l'gros, ch'ben content d'être venu à ton party, esti. Yes ! Think big, câlisse. [Référence aux films d'Elvis Gratton]

…Toé mon homme, t'es pas clair.

Approximative English translation

The video is difficult to translate accurately because of the unnecessarily numerous profanities (French sacres), that may not always have an exact vulgar equivalent in English.

Hey, we're all saying a word for Kevin, dammit, starting with you B.D. Say a word for Kevin.

- Kevin, happy birthday retard. You're such an asshole.

Notice his face, Kevin; that's him.

- That's me.
- Kevin, I'm happy to have come to your house; it's been so long I wanted to come.
- Happy birthday Kevin, dammit.

Hurry, dammit, a word for Kevin.

- Fuckin' happy birthday my Kev. Take care of yourself. 24 years old passes fuckin' fast.

A lil' word for Kevin?

- Eat shit.

Hurry, you.

- I'm eating my weiner.

Hurry, I'm giving it back to ya to eat, your weiner! [???]

You, [???] Kevin.

- [Claude Asselin] Hurry up Kevin, keep goin'!

Hurry up dammit, we want a lil' word for Kevin! A lil' word for Kevin, big!

- Hey Kevin, happy birthday man!

Ya?

- Hey Kevin, happy birthday. I'm sure you didn't expect me to be there, huh?

No! Me neither!

- Damn the cake was good, huh?

Hey seriously, there's a lot left!
Hey ya, a lil' word for Kevin!

- Hey Kevin, happy birthday man! I don't know you but it doesn't matter. It was quite nice, I respect you to have invited me even if you didn't invite me.

Ya? You both at the same time!

- Kevin, happy birthday, I appreciate you.
- Happy birthday!
- Thanks for having gotten smashed [pour la brosse], it was quite nice of you!

A lil' word for Kevin, Christelle?

- Happy birthday Kevin! Very fine party [soirée], I can't ask for more.

Quentin, a lil' word for Kevin.

- Hi my chum. You've got a pretty snake; I'm gonna buy it in two weeks.

No, a word for Kevin, not for me.

- Kevin, happy birthday; I like ya. You're such a good guy, and take care of your skin. See ya!

T'care of yer skin.
Hey you, a lil' word for Kevin.

- Happy birthday Kevin!
- I'm wishing you good luck in life, dammit!

Hey, [Duf?], a lil' word for Kevin!
- Kevin, happy birthday! I'm happy to be here.

Hey ya… she's running away, she's fuckin' running away! Hey there! You gotta say a lil' word for Kevin! Hurry, a lil' word, just a 'lil!

Hey! A lil' word… for Kevin's birthday and yours at the same time? A lil' word for Kevin? Now you say a lil' word for Kevin.

- Happy birthday man, you're such a good guy.
- The first time I met him, I fancied French kissing him [de le frencher]…

Yeah! Hey, you too.

- …and it was such sustained efforts…

To French kiss him?

- …no! It was so long and it took me so much efforts, and I had so much time to take some that in the end, it was him that ended up telling me two months later, struggl…

He said what? What was… what did he ended up saying?

- I have somethin' to tell you, man. Your lil' beard, it's been a while [???] in the spa.

Hey Virginie! A lil' word for Kevin?

- Hey Kevin dammit! [???] Happy birthday!
- [Kevin Lavoie] I am 24 years old. It's my birthday!

Ya, are you happy big?

- Huh?

Are ya happy?

- I'm happy man. It's a fine party. Just give him an invitation card.

Damn, happy birthday big, I'm so happy to have come to your parti, dammit. Yes! Think big [in English], dammit! [Reference to the movies of Elvis Gratton]

…Ya mah man, you're shifty.

Parodies

In 2021, the actress Ariel Charest lip-synced Un mot pour Kevin^[3]:

In 2025, Tommy Lee Salvas also lip-synced the video:

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Une publication partagée par Tommy-Lee Salvas (@tommylee.salvas)

Cultural Impact

Jean-Michel Berthiaume, doctor in semiology and popular culture in the Université du Québec à Montréal affirmed that:

Pour moi, c’est le plus important court métrage québécois du 21e siècle.
For me, it's the most important Quebecer short film of the 21st century.

He also affirmed the video was an ethnographic document that displayed the "truth of the Quebecer identity".

In 2021, Claude Asselin (who uttered the famous phrase of the video) collaborated with the clothes company Poche & fils to create a pocket in his effigy^[2].

This video alone may have caused a sharp decline of the number of boys named Kevin in Quebec since 2008. It can better be observed with this screenshot from the website prenomsquebec.ca^[1]:

While in France, the name Kevin is often regarded as the typical name for a beauf (beau-frère, brother-in-law, implied to be an uneducated lout), this video may have contributed to give a similar reputation to the name in Quebec as well.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the anti-masks protestors were often mocked and nicknamed « Kéveune » (phonetic French for the Quebecer pronunciation of Kevin, as opposed to France's Kévinne). Similarly to Karen in English, the name became an archetype in French.

Image Gallery

Jump to the gallery

Search Interest

External References

^[1] ÉGLISE, Justine de l'. « La vidéo « Bonne fête Kevin » fête ses dix ans aujourd’hui », Vice, 27 September 2018, URL : https://www.vice.com/fr/article/la-video-bonne-fete-kevin-fete-ses-dix-ans-aujourdhui/

^[2] DUPUIS, Stéphanie. « "Envoye, Kevin, continue comme ça!" : le mème « Bonne fête Kevin » a 15 ans », Radio-Canada, 28 September 2023, URL : https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2013403/bonne-fete-kevin-meme-viral-anniversaire

^[3] « Elle refait la vidéo Bonne fête Kevin à la perfection », Petit Petit Gamin, 4 February 2021, URL : https://www.petitpetitgamin.com/2021/02/04/elle-refait-la-video-bonne-fete-kevin-a-la-perfection/