They didn't explain the etymology. En panne means broken, not functioning. Dépanner means to remove something from that state, to fix it. A dépanneur is therefore a person or thing that fixes stuff, gets you out of trouble.
An online translation tool managed: "out of order" for "en panne". Your translation is far better because it gives the actual, raw and intended (by a local), meaning and not re-translated that meaning into a trite phrase on the destination side.
"Out of order" is something you see on a broken machine and not something to do with a shop!
One day, the AI kiddies will manage to work out how to stuff "Idia" into their wanky offerings. Until then, I'd rather read comments like yours.
And penne gets that meaning because en penne used to mean ‘be stuck, not able to move on’
This phrase existed because the penne was a wood affixed to the mast of sailboat that allowed you to move the sail such that the boat slowed down and stopped.
That thing was called the penne because it looked like a pen (the writing instrument)
It is from the word "dépanner", not from the word "panne" directly. "Dépanner" evolved from "panne" to mean just in general, helping someone out temporarily.
A tool that would dépanne you would be a tool that would do the job poorly but well enough for now. This is how the name is meant to be understood, a small store where you can buy like eggs, beer, milk, bread (it's a convenience store), maybe batteries, but not a full grocery store or pharmacy or tool place.
