l'esprit de l'escalier
nounEtymology
Borrowed from French esprit de l’escalier (literally “mind of the staircase”), with the definite article le (“the”) at the beginning of the term. It refers to a description of the phenomenon in the essay Paradoxe sur le comédien (Paradox of the Actor, completed 1778 and published 1830) by the French encyclopedist and philosopher Denis Diderot (1713–1784). During a dinner at the home of the statesman Jacques Necker (1732–1804), Diderot was left speechless by a remark made to him. He wrote: « l’homme sensible, comme moi, tout entier à ce qu’on lui objecte, perd la tête et ne se retrouve qu’au bas de l’escalier » (“a sensitive man, such as myself, overwhelmed by the argument levelled against him, becomes confused and can only think clearly again at the bottom of the stairs”), that is, when one is already on the way out of the house.
- borrowed from esprit de l'escalier
Definitions
The phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the…
The phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed.
- Some last thoughts in l'esprit de l'escalier—afterthoughts descending the stairwell as one remembers things unsaid.
- I flashed on Nancy again. The French had a word for everything: even for that thing you wished you'd said. L'esprit de l'escalier. The wit of the staircase. What I wished I'd said was this: […]
- 'That's understandable,' said May, 'we get it all the time. L'esprit d'escalier—remembering what you should have said too late.'
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for l'esprit de l'escalier. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA