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Old 05-09-2008, 03:48 PM   #5
Taylor514ce
Actively passive.
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esprit de I'escalier [es-pree de less-ka/-iay] (idiom)

A witty remark that occurs to you too late, literally on the way down the stairs. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations defines esprit de l'escalier as, "An untranslatable phrase, the meaning of which is that one only thinks on one's way downstairs of the smart retort one might have made in the drawing room."


We certainly have that feeling in English, and even express it all the time, saying we thought of something too late, etc. But there is no specific term for it, as you have in French.
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