LanguagePalaver: Why Didn't I Think of That?

You know when someone says something obnoxious and the perfect comeback hits you too late?  The French have an expression for that:  l'esprit d'escalier.  Wikipedia defines it this way:

L'esprit d'escalier (literally, stairway wit) is a French term that describes the predicament of thinking of the right comeback too late. Originally a witticism of Denis Diderot, the French encyclopedist, in his Paradoxe sur le Comédien.

The phrase can be used to describe a riposte to an insult, or any witty, clever remark that comes to mind too late to be useful—when one is on the "staircase" leaving the scene.

This expression dates from a time when the word esprit, which now means "spirit" or "mind", meant more commonly "wit" (though mot d'esprit still means "witticism").

I prefer the definition in my old college French dictionary (defining "avoir l'esprit d'escalier"):  "to be slow on the repartee."  I love the fact that Wikipedia refers to "The Comeback" episode of "Seinfeld:  "the jerk store called and they're running out of you."

Comments

[Jabber]

This is a very useful term in my life.