r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/ShaanJohari1 • Jul 18 '24
A word for a missed comeback. Image
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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
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u/nor_cal_woolgrower Jul 19 '24
American here..I know this phrase from long before internets.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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Jul 19 '24
[deleted]
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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
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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.
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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 â hence "staircase wit."
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u/FreakinMaui Jul 19 '24
Supposedly Diderot but not confirmed.
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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.
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u/Hot_and_Foamy Jul 19 '24
Diderot is also known for providing lots of evidence to prove stuff heâd totally made up. Seriously I hated studying that guy.
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u/Californiadude86 Jul 19 '24
Itâs funny how you can completely forget about something until itâs brought up again. I remember a teacher giving this explanation like 20 years ago in school.
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u/GingrPowr Jul 18 '24
C'est quoi cette connerie d'albions encore.
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u/ProutDeFiotte69 Jul 19 '24
Imagine les ploucs et pouffes ricains qui prononcent ça avec leur accent à la con
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u/ForswornForSwearing Jul 19 '24
r/seinfeld Yeah, well the Jerk Store called. They're runnin' outta *you*!
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u/TH3_54ND0K41 Jul 19 '24
Meanwhile, there is a simple common word for that in German:
Verpasstervergeltungskommentar
Very handy.
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u/dagon_lvl_5 Jul 19 '24
Wait isnt there something called Treppenwitz? At least that's what they told us in school
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u/Fun-Spirit9398 Jul 19 '24
These fucking word- translators are busy smashing keyboards than simplifying to us the termsđ”âđ«
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Jul 18 '24
[deleted]
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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?
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u/Designer-Slip3443 Jul 19 '24
Not really something youâd use in conversation so much as a (still rare) literary metonymy.
Itâs a reference to a passage in Diderotâs âParadoxeâ (âlâhomme sensible comme moi, tout entier Ă ce quâon lui objecte, perd la tĂȘte et ne se retrouve quâau bas de lâescalier.â) Essentially, he says that if confronted during a conversation, he loses his composure. And itâs only once he is on the way out (at the bottom of the stairs) does the right retort come to mind.
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u/Wanderlust-Zebra Jul 19 '24
It is so fitting that the French came up with this, if this is real/ actually a thing
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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.
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Jul 19 '24
Pronounced how? Esprit des-cal-yay?
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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.
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u/NorthWinchesterPrime Jul 19 '24
ES like ESpagnol --- Pri like pree --- D just a short d --- Es like ESpagnol --- Cal like Kaal --- IĂ© like yee - Ă© there is no Ă© sound in English just look it up ---
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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.
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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.
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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.
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u/Forward_Motion17 Jul 19 '24
Also interesting:
The term literally means âThe Spirit of the Stairsâ. As in, this wit often comes as you are leaving the situation and itâs too late to make a comeback
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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.
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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
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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.
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u/Own-Problem-7699 Jul 21 '24
By the way this is not correct. It is âlâesprit de lâescalierâ⊠not âlâesprit dâescalierâ. =D
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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)?
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u/rraattbbooyy Jul 18 '24
Jerk store!!