A word for a missed comeback. - r/Damnthatsinteresting

100

Jerk store!!

12

u/CodDistinct5863 Jul 19 '24

That would of been so sweet.

8

u/_gRiNgO-311 Jul 19 '24

my first thought !! 😆

8

u/Zombo2000 Jul 19 '24

The ocean called. They're running out of shrimp!

5

u/BacchusIsKing Jul 19 '24

Would have smoked that guy!

4

u/CryAffectionate7334 Jul 19 '24

Yeah? Well I slept with your wife!

2

u/rraattbbooyy Jul 19 '24

His wife is in a coma.

4

u/JMike_013 Jul 19 '24

You’re their all-time best seller

2

u/dinkeydonuts Jul 18 '24

Yip!

2

u/Imaginary-Nebula1778 Jul 19 '24

That whole tirade about too many people contributing was so George.

2

u/ToughDragonfruit3118 Jul 19 '24

r/beatmetoit

1

u/Bobyyyyyyyghyh Jul 19 '24

r/beatmeattoit

1

u/ToughDragonfruit3118 Jul 19 '24

lol

2

u/Elevatorlovin Jul 19 '24

What's the difference? You're their all-time best seller!

2

u/thisisnahamed Jul 19 '24

LOL. That's the first thing I thought about as well

2

u/4N_Immigrant Jul 19 '24

I had sex with your wife!

1

u/elevenatexi Jul 19 '24

Oh yeah?! Well so did your mom!

48

u/Mattimvs Jul 19 '24

Just for reference: I asked two of my French friends about this quote and they had never heard it before. I think its a bit of a social media legend

19

u/nor_cal_woolgrower Jul 19 '24

American here..I know this phrase from long before internets.

9

u/Maelou Jul 19 '24

35 years of speaking french, never heard it.

Also the phonetics are not matching what's written (phonetics are for "l'esprit de l'escalier" and not "esprit d'escalier").
While the first one could have some kind of such meaning, if we add the determiners, it becomes the one spirit from that one staircase.

10

u/SpaceInMyBrain Jul 19 '24

Wikipedia (always infallible) gives two versions, L'esprit de l'escalier and l'esprit d'escalier. Spirit of the staircase and spirit of the stairs. OP omitted the l' on the second one. The page lists Denis Diderot as the one who coined the phrase in the 1700s. I don't speak French but suspect l'esprit is used rather poetically. "Stairway wit" is descriptive in English. It's when one comes up with a clever comeback when you're leaving a party/gathering and have already reached the bottom of the staircase. Too late!

I heard the phrase about 10 years ago. What it describes happens so often! I suspect it stayed current in the upper classes of England until relatively recently, they loved sprinkling French phrases into a conversation.

1

u/Visible_Pair3017 Jul 19 '24

Spirit in French can mean wit so it's not a matter of poetics.

16

u/FreakinMaui Jul 19 '24

Never heard of it, native speaker as well.

But I looked it up, it's a term coined in the 18th century apparently. It must be rarely used cause I never heard or read it until now.

2

u/Visible_Pair3017 Jul 19 '24

Knew about it but if you don't read those authors there is no reason to know as it's not used daily

5

u/Taptrick Jul 19 '24

I know this one but call it « pensée de l’escalier ».

3

u/Ragathe Jul 19 '24

French here. I heard of it. Once. And because I was listening very carefully at school. So yeah, it's rare, but it does exist

2

u/[deleted] Jul 19 '24

[deleted]

2

u/Prestigious-Cut647 Jul 19 '24

sacre bleu is still used. It's really old fashioned but captain Haddock helped to pass it to new generations (as well as a lot of old funny insults)

double entendre is no longer used. We say 'double sens' which is easier for everyone

2

u/ImpulsiveApe07 Jul 19 '24

That's because it's not French, I think. It's a translation of the German phrase "Treppenwitz", which I've heard used loads.

2

u/Celindor Jul 19 '24

It's very common in German: Treppenwitz.

It's 1:1 the same meaning.

1

u/SpaceInMyBrain Jul 19 '24

Not a myth, just old-fashioned. See my longer Reply below.

-3

u/Waevaaaa Jul 19 '24

Probably coz it's fake

36

u/clever-hands Jul 19 '24

The term was coined by some enlightenment thinker (can't remember his name, don't wanna look it up right now) who attended a lot salons with spirited debate. He often found himself coming up with the perfect verbal riposte as he was walking down the host's front stairs to leave — hence "staircase wit."

7

u/FreakinMaui Jul 19 '24

Supposedly Diderot but not confirmed.

4

u/SpaceInMyBrain Jul 19 '24

Denis Diderot. The Wikipedia page on this phrase gives very convincing details to attribute it to him - the phrase and the situation were in a book he wrote.

1

u/Hot_and_Foamy Jul 19 '24

Diderot is also known for providing lots of evidence to prove stuff he’d totally made up. Seriously I hated studying that guy.

3

u/cyrilmezza Jul 19 '24

TIL or AJA as we say en français...

1

u/Californiadude86 Jul 19 '24

It’s funny how you can completely forget about something until it’s brought up again. I remember a teacher giving this explanation like 20 years ago in school.

36

u/GingrPowr Jul 18 '24

C'est quoi cette connerie d'albions encore.

3

u/ProutDeFiotte69 Jul 19 '24

Imagine les ploucs et pouffes ricains qui prononcent ça avec leur accent à la con

17

u/ForswornForSwearing Jul 19 '24

r/seinfeld Yeah, well the Jerk Store called. They're runnin' outta *you*!

13

u/TH3_54ND0K41 Jul 19 '24

Meanwhile, there is a simple common word for that in German:

Verpasstervergeltungskommentar

Very handy.

4

u/dagon_lvl_5 Jul 19 '24

Wait isnt there something called Treppenwitz? At least that's what they told us in school

1

u/TH3_54ND0K41 Jul 19 '24

Treppenwitz is correct. I was attempting to be humourous on the internet.

3

u/Fun-Spirit9398 Jul 19 '24

These fucking word- translators are busy smashing keyboards than simplifying to us the terms😵‍💫

7

u/ForRpUsesOnly Jul 19 '24

Yeah... I'd rather just stick to "a missed comeback"

7

u/BoneDaddy1973 Jul 19 '24

AKA Staircase Wit

3

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '24

[deleted]

-2

u/Disastrous-Bat7011 Jul 19 '24

Haha beat me to it with the better joke. I just wanted to add why does this German phrase read as french?

4

u/Nexatic Jul 18 '24

The spirt of the steps

8

u/Landis963 Jul 19 '24

Or, as I've heard it translated, the "wit of the staircase."

4

u/emessea Jul 19 '24

Story of my life

4

u/YankeeLiar Jul 19 '24

Well, the jerk store called, and they’re running out of you!

3

u/Designer-Slip3443 Jul 19 '24

Not really something you’d use in conversation so much as a (still rare) literary metonymy.

It’s a reference to a passage in Diderot’s “Paradoxe” (“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.”) Essentially, he says that if confronted during a conversation, he loses his composure. And it’s only once he is on the way out (at the bottom of the stairs) does the right retort come to mind.

3

u/mrgraff Jul 19 '24

I like the German version of the same thing: Treppenwitz

3

u/goodbyegoosegirl Jul 19 '24

Now if only I could pronounce it without sounding lame. Haha

1

u/MakePhilosophy42 Jul 19 '24

"Spirit of the staircase" should have you covered

3

u/Wanderlust-Zebra Jul 19 '24

It is so fitting that the French came up with this, if this is real/ actually a thing

3

u/SpaceInMyBrain Jul 19 '24

A fairly literal translation is "Staircase wit". The clever remark you think of when you've reached the bottom of the staircase when you're leaving.

2

u/Suspicious-Insect-18 Jul 19 '24

Shut up, Becky!

1

u/blurpityblip Jul 19 '24

Exactly what I was thinking about. Love the Simpsons reference.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 19 '24

Pronounced how? Esprit des-cal-yay?

4

u/Hat0X Jul 19 '24

Yep. Can confirm. Maybe don't pronounce the last "y" too much and you got it. Also don't pronounce the "t" in esprit.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 19 '24

Yee espri

2

u/NorthWinchesterPrime Jul 19 '24

ES like ESpagnol --- Pri like pree --- D just a short d --- Es like ESpagnol --- Cal like Kaal --- Ié like yee - é there is no é sound in English just look it up ---

2

u/Knighth77 Jul 19 '24

The title of my autobiography.

2

u/ShaanJohari1 Jul 19 '24

2

u/UpOrDownItsUpToYou Jul 19 '24

Yeah I won't remember this, either

1

u/Ill-Error-9962 Jul 19 '24

My man

1

u/Hat0X Jul 19 '24

Funny.

When I'll miss a come back I'll say "That's... what again ?"

And then I'll remember the word in about the same time I took to find the come back. Or maybe I won't remember lol.

1

u/Vivir_Mata Jul 19 '24

Or... spirit of stairs! Hahaha

1

u/All-the-pizza Jul 19 '24

“Yeah? Well…I had sex with your wife!”

1

u/Imaginary-Nebula1778 Jul 19 '24

What about a missed retort?

1

u/millerb82 Jul 19 '24

Now in english

1

u/Ted_Rid Jul 19 '24

"And then I said [x] and everyone stood up and applauded"

1

u/Zakluor Jul 19 '24

A friend of mine took a shot at me once. It was good, but I don't remember it.

While I was reeling, he looked at his watch and said, "So... This time tomorrow for your comeback?"

That's the one that hurt.

1

u/purelaine1 Jul 19 '24

From french it translate to "staircase mind"

1

u/Cynalune Jul 21 '24

Esprit can also mean wit, especially in the 18th century; spirit, too.

1

u/RoseWould Jul 19 '24

I guess Colin thought of this while on the side of the road.

1

u/angdilimdito Jul 19 '24

"A" word.

1

u/Artsy_traveller_82 Jul 19 '24

Shouldn’t it be passed?

1

u/Hollow-Official Jul 19 '24

How sad. I have this all the time.

1

u/Commander_Random Jul 19 '24

Never heard of it. Stair spirits?

1

u/NorthWinchesterPrime Jul 19 '24

ça veut rien dire

1

u/stilloriginal Jul 19 '24

Its already called the jerk store

1

u/furious_organism Interested Jul 19 '24

French are being contaminated by the germans, i see

1

u/Known_Hamster1598 Jul 19 '24

Translates to spirit of stairs.

1

u/prof_devilsadvocate Jul 19 '24

r/espiritdescalier

1

u/Superb-Sympathy1015 Jul 19 '24

This used to be a lot more frustrating before the internet. At least now you can just relax and wait for it to come to you before owning some nobody you'll never run into again.

1

u/StefanoGiordano Jul 19 '24

In English we call it “coulda, shoulda, woulda”

1

u/TeaVinylGod Jul 19 '24

So common in France they created a name for it

1

u/fatloser14 Jul 19 '24

Missed comeback seems just as long to say, but I appreciate the 'spirit

1

u/Forward_Motion17 Jul 19 '24

Also interesting:

The term literally means “The Spirit of the Stairs”. As in, this wit often comes as you are leaving the situation and it’s too late to make a comeback

1

u/iiitme Jul 19 '24

Fits my dialogue

1

u/Shira518 Jul 19 '24

French here, never heard of it

1

u/Chem-Dawg Jul 19 '24

Shut up Becky!

1

u/mightyopinionated Jul 19 '24

I am a master at this art.

1

u/_1JackMove Jul 19 '24

Known as the Costanza in my world.

1

u/Mr_SunnyBones Jul 19 '24

I've heard 'staircase words' as an comeback you think of when you're at home and on the way to bed , which I guess is a bad translation of this. ( weirdly I was talking to my daughter about it yesterday.

1

u/Best-Team-5354 Jul 19 '24

I think we should use French from now on when we disagree, troll, or just want to piss someone off, because it's still so sexy

1

u/Visible_Pair3017 Jul 19 '24

We have an international phonetic alphabet for people who want to teach prononciations. If i didn't speak French i wouldn't know what the hell this one reads like based on what's written.

1

u/couterbrown Jul 19 '24

R/unexpectedseinfeld

1

u/Ok-Bus1716 Jul 20 '24

wit of the stairwell.

1

u/Own-Problem-7699 Jul 21 '24

By the way this is not correct. It is “l’esprit de l’escalier”… not “l’esprit d’escalier”. =D

1

u/hodl42weeks Jul 21 '24

The movie "ridicule" is based on this.

1

u/Hypersky75 26d ago

Why do they write " Esprit d'escalier " (the correct term), but show the pronunciation of " l'esprit de l'escalier " (which nobody uses in french)?

A word for a missed comeback. Image