The idea of "trying" to write is in the last two of PG's essays. I would just like to reveal that the word "essay" comes from French verb "essayer" which means

The idea of "trying" to write is in the last two of PG's essays. I would just like to reveal that the word "essay" comes from French verb "essayer" which means "to try". This makes the phrase "trying to write an essay" somewhat tautological doesn't it? I'm curious whether PG knows this little fact. If language is like a 6th sense into a shared platonic realm of ideas, it wouldn't be unsurprising that PG is able to survey the concept of "essays" accurately without knowing its etymology.