l'esprit de l'escalier
The phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after…The phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed.
Meaning
1 senses(uncountable)The phenomenon when a conversational rejoinder or remark only occurs to someone after the opportunity to make it has passed.
Treppenwitz
за́дний умzádnij um, ле́стничный умléstničnyj um, остроу́мие на ле́стницеostroúmije na léstnice
Translations
5 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Borrowed from French esprit de l’escalier (literally “mind of the staircase”), with the deBorrowed 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).
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Synonyms
2 synonymsWord family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable