Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious and Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang singing "Toot Sweets".

"Toot Sweets" is a song/musical number from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the 1968 musical motion picture. In the film it is sung by Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes. "Toot Suites" is also featured prominently in the multi-award winning stage musical of the same name which premiered in London at the Palladium in 2002 and on Broadway in 2005 at the newly refurbished Hilton Theatre. Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts. ... Truly Scrumptious is a fictional character in the classic musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. ... Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American television and movie actor. ... Caractacus Potts was the main character in the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. ... Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 feature film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, based on Ian Flemings book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. ... Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 feature film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, based on Ian Flemings book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American television and movie actor. ... Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The London Palladium in 2004 The London Palladium is one of the most famous of Londons West End theatres. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Hilton Theatre is a Broadway theatre, located at 213 West 42nd Street. ...

The song title is a play on words, based on the late 19th century French expression "tout de suite", meaning all at once. In the context of the film and stage musical, "Toot Sweets" is about candy cane that has holes in it making the candy possible to be played like a flute. The song was written by Robert B. Sherman & Richard M. Sherman (also known as the "Sherman Brothers"). Robert B. Sherman (born December 19, 1925) (see also: Sherman Brothers) is an Academy Award-winning American songwriter who specializes in musical films with his brother Richard M. Sherman. ... Robert B. Sherman (born December 19, 1925) and Richard M. Sherman (born June 12, 1928) are Academy Award-winning American songwriters, who specialize in musical film. ... Robert B. Sherman & Richard M. Sherman at the London Palladium in 2002 during the premiere of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Stage Musical. ...

Origin of the expression

The English expression toot sweet, which means 'immediately; right away', is an anglicization of the French phrase tout de suite. Toot sweet, which is also found in more jocular versions, such as toot sweat and the tooter the sweeter 'more promptly'--is first found during World War I, when many French words and expressions were borrowed by English-speaking soldiers. Some similar borrowings, from different eras, include fox paws for faux pas 'blunder of etiquette', au reservoir for au revoir 'good-bye', and mercy (or messy) buckets for merci beaucoup 'thank you very much'.

A difference between these words and toot sweet, however, is that these other expressions conform the French words to similar-sounding English words, but toot sweet is pretty much how tout de suite is pronounced in French--it doesn't involve an alteration of the French phrase. The French tout de suite literally means 'all at once; consecutively'--a sense that rarely appears in English--but it is used idiomatically to mean 'immediately'.^[1]

External sources

• Sherman, Robert B. Walt's Time: from before to beyond. Santa Clarita: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998.
• Random House