'Staircase wit of the iconoclast

摘要

Why has the moment always passed by the time you finally come up with that witty rejoinder? The French have their own expression for this frustrating moment — esprit de I'escalier. Esprit de I'escalier literally means staircase wit. The expression is credited to the French encyclopaedist and philosopher, Denis Diderot, who described this situation in his 'Paradoxe sur le comedien', published in 1830. In the original, the phrase refers to leaving a drawing room and getting halfway down the stairs before thinking of that amusing comment. Bear in mind that 18 th century grand houses had their principal rooms on an upper floor.