The author mentions the similarity between the name InOui and "ennui" (boredom), but seem to ignore that "inouï" is an actual word that means unprecedented/incredible/unheard-of.
Yeah -- I'm French and I had never realized that "inoui" was somewhat close to "ennui". In French pronunciation the two first vowels are really different ("ennui" in French starts with a nasal 'a' sound which doesn't resemble an 'i' at all, to French ears at least).
Another point missed by the article is that in French "ennui" usually doesn't have the philosophical undertones that it has in English. Outside of a philosophical context, in French "ennui" (as a feeling) just means "boredom" and that's it. In everyday French you also use "ennui" to mean an annoyance or trouble, i.e., "avoir des ennuis" means "run into trouble", or "l'ennui c'est que ..." means "the problem is that..."
> In French pronunciation the two first vowels are really different ("ennui" in French starts with a nasal 'a' sound which doesn't resemble an 'i' at all, to French ears at least).
Yeah, I was confused when I tried to understand the connection they were trying to make.
> Another point missed by the article is that in French "ennui" usually doesn't have the philosophical undertones that it has in English.
Fatty liver is a disease, foie gras is a delicacy. ;- )
At my D&D table we pronounced "Coup de grâce" as someone french might pronounce "Coup de gras" for years the latter of which translates to something along the lines of "Blow of fat (or grease)" (rather than "Blow of mercy")
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For non-francophones, the correct pronunciation is roughly "Koo day grass" and we were saying "Koo day grah"
Thinking "ennui" and "inouï" sound similar is a bit like a non-native English speaker finding it hard to distinguish between "bottom" and "button". The vowels may sound similar to outsiders, but are completely different to French ears.
(I'm not French, but I speak the language well enough to feel confident making assertions like this about what things sound like to French people).
Another point missed by the article is that in French "ennui" usually doesn't have the philosophical undertones that it has in English. Outside of a philosophical context, in French "ennui" (as a feeling) just means "boredom" and that's it. In everyday French you also use "ennui" to mean an annoyance or trouble, i.e., "avoir des ennuis" means "run into trouble", or "l'ennui c'est que ..." means "the problem is that..."