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Post by onlymark on Apr 4, 2011 13:53:11 GMT
Treppenwitz/esprit de l'escalier -
a devastating rejoinder thought of only after leaving the scene of the debate.
We don't have an English word or phrase that means the same thing. But I suffer from that. Anyone else?
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Post by patricklondon on Apr 4, 2011 16:01:30 GMT
All the time. I used to have dreams of barging back into the room shouting "And another thing...."; but that was in another career.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2011 5:26:35 GMT
I have been lucky enough not to suffer from this too much. It is almost more common for me to think "I shouldn't have made that last remark."
I do know that on quite a few internet forums, my intervention is often the thread killer (usually on purpose but not always).
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Post by hwinpp on Apr 5, 2011 6:38:37 GMT
Like now?
...
Have you looked at LEO? They've usually got pretty accurate translations.
It says 'staircase wit'... never heard that term in English before. Is it real?
And this is what they have in the forum:
Not the 'spirit' but the 'wit'. I think the French phrase can be used here. The Wordsworth Dictionary of Foreign Words in English lists: 'staircase wit,' and 'staircase afterthought.' If one failed to come up with the devistatingly reply, one saves a bit of face by using speaking about it in French.
And
Esprit de l'escalier, (note the "l") or, which works well in English (sic!), "staircase wit", the lines that come you after the opportunity has pased. ("He was renowned for his staircase wit" would be a beautiful insult.) Also, on google I came across this lovely line: "You can't see the point in wasting even staircase wit on this situation".
John has a point though about using French to save face, but I think it might be exactly those who use gratuitous francais who might be the maitres of exactly this esprit.
Re. Herr Hertslet weiß ich nichts, obwohl sein Buch hochinteressant klingt. P.S Treppenwitz is a delightful word.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2011 7:00:26 GMT
I would not have recognized the expression in English if somebody used it -- in fact, I did not know the French term either.
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Post by onlymark on Apr 5, 2011 7:37:43 GMT
I wouldn't really know what the English expression is either had I heard it.
I use LEO for single word translations but google translate for web pages or longer tracts.
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Post by bjd on Apr 5, 2011 7:40:07 GMT
Interestingly, I came across the expression in French last night in a book I'm reading. I had heard the expression "esprit de l'escalier" before but somehow associated it with gossip -- concierges standing in a stairway gossiping about tenants or something. This time I knew what it meant.
Never heard the expression "staircase wit" though. I agree it's something that's lacking in English.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2011 11:04:44 GMT
The word "afterthought" would have been pretty good if it were not already taken up by another meaning.
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