Struggling to find a sense of purpose in a world that increasingly makes less and less overt sense, Jack Campbell of Nashville, Tennessee, found meaning through Google Translate, albeit of only one particular word.
“It was the word ennui,” said Campbell. “French, I believe. At first I thought it meant target audience. But come to discover it means exactly what I’ve been feeling. I felt so validated.”
Campbell explained that after stumbling over the unfamiliar foreign word in an article about the merits of continued COVID caution and social distancing, he faltered emotionally and was tempted to abandon the news piece altogether in favor of a lighter read. In the next instant, however, he recalled the masterful online service Google Translate and decided to give it a shot – even though he was far from certain the word in question was in fact French.
“You’ve got to start somewhere, and that’s what I decided to go with,” he said. “I plugged it in and boom, there it was. The meaning was clear – on more than one level.”
As Campbell learned, ‘ennui” means a deep weariness, discontent, and/or utter lack of interest or boredom. “Google Translate nailed it. That's me in a nutshell. Call me Ennui.”
The existential irony of the online software encounter did not escape Campbell. “Here, I’d been seeking to understand just one word, and I end up feeling understood on a core level. It just goes to show.”
Exactly what it goes to show, Campbell remains unclear, but as he continues to wrestle with life meaning, he takes solace from this experience of seeking understanding and finding it - not just as a vessel, but as a recipient.
“I’m living proof that the search for meaning starts with just one word," he said. "There’s a whole dictionary to build on from there.”
