Dictionary

l'esprit de l'escalier en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /lɛˌspɹiː də lɛsˈkal.jeɪ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /lɛˌspɹi də ˌlɛs.kəlˈjeɪ/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /lɛˌspɹi də ˈlɛs.kɑl.jeɪ/ (General-American)

Etymology

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.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed.
   • 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: […] 2013, Simmone Howell, Girl Defective, Sydney, N.S.W.: Pan Macmillan, →ISBN; paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, September 2015, →ISBN, pages 100–101:
   • Some last thoughts in l'esprit de l'escalier—afterthoughts descending the stairwell as one remembers things unsaid. 2011, Richard Kearney, “Epilogue”, in Anatheism: Returning to God after God (Insurrections), New York, N.Y.; Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, part 3 (Postlude), page 182:
   • Later, l'esprit de l'escalier provided Mercia with: Glad you're in agreement/I haven't yet spoken/Is that a greeting/Yes indeed—but at the time, affronted, she grabbed at a couple of garments and announced, I'll try these. 2014, Zoë Wicomb, October: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: The New Press, →ISBN, page 112:
   • 'That's understandable,' said May, 'we get it all the time. L'esprit d'escalier—remembering what you should have said too late.' 2014, Christopher Fowler, Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart (A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery), New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 173:

Forms

Relateds

shower thought · retrotort · fridge logic

Synonyms

staircase wit · afterwit

Translations (20)

pt espírito da escada (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · cs esprit de l'escalier (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · es ingenio de la escalera (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · ru остроу́мие на ле́стнице (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · fi myöhään keksitty huomautus (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · is gáfaður eftir á (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · sh касна па̏ме̄т (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · et tagantjärgi tark olema (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · ko 기차 떠나고 손 흔들다 (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · de Treppenwitz (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · ru ле́стничный ум (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · fr esprit d'escalier (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · yi טרעפּווערטער (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · cs opožděná duchaplnost (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · fi myöhään keksitty letkaus (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · es espíritu del escalador (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · fi myöhään keksitty sutkaus (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · ru за́дний ум (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · fr esprit de l'escalier (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed) · sh kasna pȁmēt (phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed)

wikipedia: Jacques Necker · wikipedia: Denis Diderot · wikipedia: Paradox of the Actor