The story
Denis Diderot described it after a dinner where a remark left him speechless: he only found his answer at the bottom of the stairs. English borrowed the whole phrase, while its own old word for the same thing, afterwit, faded away.
l'esprit de l'escalier
less-PREE duh less-kal-YAY[lɛspʁi d(ə) lɛskalje]
thinking of the perfect reply only once it is too late
Closest in English: hindsight, afterwit, comeback. None of them covers it.
How it went in the game
Contains the answers. If you want to play the word yourself first, leave this closed.
- Which language is it from?French
- What does it literally say?Wit of the staircase
- Where would you hear it?The shower, replaying yesterday's row
- What does it mean?Thinking of the perfect reply too late