inOUI, c’est inouï

French listening practice with side-by-side translation

  Listening comprehension: See the links at the bottom for lessons related to the phrases in italics.

Le TGV monte en gamme avec inOUI TGV goes upmarket with inOUI
Nouvelles couleurs, nouveau design, voici le futur train inOUI de la SNCF. Fini donc le logo TGV pourtant vieux de plus de 35 ans, un choix qui est loin de faire l’unanimité auprès des voyageurs.
Translation

New colors, new design, here’s SNCF’s future inOUI train. So the TGV logo is gone even though it’s more than 35 years old, a choice that is far from unanimously appreciated by travelers.

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Je trouve ça nul. TGV, c’était vraiment « train à grande vitesse » mais là, « inOUI », ça, ça ne parle pas aux personnes (sic: à personne).
Translation

I think it’s stupid. TGV really was "high-speed train" but this, "inOUI," that doesn’t speak to people (sic: à personne = to anyone).

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Pourquoi pas, hein ? Il faut un peu s’adapter aussi aux changements hein.
Translation

Why not, eh? You kind of have to adapt to changes too, you know.

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Ben, j’en ai rien à pass– penser, c’est pas terrible à la base je pense mais bon.
Translation

Well, I don’t care, basically it’s not that great I don’t think but well.

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Derrière ce nouveau nom, des TGV plus haute gamme, selon la SNCF. À bord de ces futurs trains il sera par exemple possible de choisir sa place ou d’avoir accès wi-fi, mais du côté de la CGT les réactions sont, là aussi, mesurées.
Translation

Behind this new name, more upmarket trains, according to SNCF. On board these future trains it will be possible to choose your place or have wifi access for example, but as for the CGT (French trade union), reactions are lukewarm there too.

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Il y a une perte quelque part d’identité, alors la perte d’identité peut se faire pour les agents qui y travaillent – pour les cheminots, et puis il y a aussi une perte de repères pour les voyageurs.
Translation

There’s a certain loss of identity, well that loss of identity can happen for the agents who work there – for the trainmen, and then there’s also a loss of reference points for travelers.

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Car selon les spécialistes il y a bien un risque pour la SNCF, celui de rendre l’offre flou auprès des consommateurs.
Translation

For, according to specialists, there’s certainly a risk for SNCF, that of blurring the offer for consumers.

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La proposition inOUI est censé être un service « prémium ». Et là, je m’interroge pour deux raisons. La première raison, c’est que, quand je regarde les bus, c’est un positionnement low-cost, et je vais avoir inOUI, qui est un positionnement prémium. La même marque qui va faire le grand écart : qu’est-ce que vont penser les consommateurs ? C’est quoi la SNCF ? C’est du low-cost ou c’est également du prémium ?
Translation

The inOUI proposal is supposed to be a "premium" service. And I wonder about that for two reasons. The first reason is that, when I look at buses, that’s a low-cost positioning, and I’m going to have inOUI, which is a premium positioning. The same brand is going to do a balancing act: what are consumers going to think? What is SNCF? Is it low-cost or is it also premium?

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Les premiers trains inOUI seront en service sur l’axe Paris-Bordeaux dès le 2 juillet.
Translation

The first inOUI trains will be in service on the Paris-Bordeaux line starting on 2 July.

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Video courtesy of BFMTV. Translation by LKL

 

  About the wordplay: SNCF has a low-cost option with the franglais name Ouigo (sounds like "we go" and of course oui = "yes"). So they wanted to include oui in the new name, and came up with inOUI. It’s a questionable choice because inouï is a real word – it can mean "extraordinary, incredible" or "unprecedented, unheard of," which makes it an easy target for mockery:

Translation: SNCF’s prices are unbelieveable and so are its delays

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