Horse or Tiger - either way, a Donkey!

One of the first non-food related Chinese expressions  that I learned was the great "MaMa HuHu" (literally:  "Horse Horse Tiger Tiger").   It mean "so-so". 
It calls to my mind an old Pied-Noir (french-algerian) expressions that I have known all my life "Kif Kif  Bourricot" (literally: "same same donkey") used to mean "it's all the same".  I love the combo of arabic and french.  And why a donkey?  Pourquoi?

I want my kids to someday combine these expressions into some super-hybrid pan-world "horse, tiger, donkey:  kif kif" for when all their choices are of similar mediocrity...wouldn't that just be the bee's knees?