Literal translation
it has neither taste nor a hint of taste
Meaning
it has absolutely no flavour
Explanation
This expression says that a food is completely bland, playing on a pair of near-twin words. Goust (taste, flavour) and gousto, a form related to the verb gousta (to have a snack, to taste), are joined by the double negation ni... ni to rule out every degree of flavour, from the strongest to the faintest : literally, it has neither big taste nor little taste. The literal translation is in fact hard to render exactly, since the expression plays less on the precise meaning of the two words than on their sound resemblance. Said in one breath, the phrase comes out as anigounigóusto, an almost childlike run of syllables that produces a deliberate comic effect, its hammering repetition mimicking the very blandness it describes. The expression is used only for food, never figuratively for a person or situation. The register is familiar and playful, often said with a smile, less to seriously criticize a dish than to underline, with a touch of sonic humour, its total lack of flavour.