Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ESPRIT DE L'ESCALIER

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pronounce ESPRIT DE L'ESCALIER: Say it "eh SPREED less call YAY." Or, if you prefer to enunciate it slower, "eh SPREE deh less call YAY." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: Oh, George. Your esprit de l'escalier had little esprit and should have remained on l'escalier: George knows the agony of staircase wit, or esprit de l'escalier: that perfectly witty remark that occurs to you far too late. The conversation's over. You're halfway upstairs already, heading to your room. Or you're halfway downstairs, heading out of the building. Halfway across town, maybe. I first mentioned this rare term back when we explored the word esprit ("wit or cleverness") and again when we explored re___der ("a retort or a comeback"--see if you can recall that one). But, why not? Let's spend a whole issue on esprit de l'escalier. It's a favorite of one of the patrons. (High five, Stefan!) And, it's one of those wonderful terms that unites us, helping us realize, "Whoa, I'm not the only one to experience this. Somebody named this. Somebody logged this in a dictionary." Let's look closely inside this term. You can see how the first bit traces back to the Old French word for "soul or "spirit," espirit, just like our term j____'esprit, literally "a play of spirit," but in usage, another French word for "witty comment." Yes, another. Witty repartee must be mandatory in France. And you can see how the last bit of esprit de l'escalier traces back to the Latin word for "ladder" or "flight of stairs," scala, just like the words scale, escalator, and echelon. That Latin scala, "ladder or stairs," is closely related to scandere, "to climb"--which is where we got words like ascend, descend, and fac____ desc____s, meaning "easy descent: a quick path to destruction or to immoral behavior."  (To reveal any term with blanks, give it a click.) definition: This term is French for "spirit of the staircase" or "wit of the staircase." Esprit de l'escalier is a great response, especially a witty one, that you think of too late, as if you've left the conversation and you're already going up or down the stairs. grammatical bits: Part of speech: noun, both the countable kind ("that esprit de l'escalier just occurred to me") and the uncountable kind ("the agony of esprit de l'escalier"). Other forms: If you want to say "the spirit of the staircase" with a French "the" instead of English, just add another L to the beginning: l'esprit de l'escalier.  how to use it: This term is rare. So for now, you probably want to keep it in italics. Yes, it appears in English dictionaries, and it's been around in English print since 1906, but it's still so very Frenchy-sounding. (Unlike other words we no longer italicize, like "chauffeur" and "quiche.") However, as you'll see below in the example from the Guardian, some writers are ready to shed the italics. Most of the time, when you bump into this term, the writer is defining it for you, or talking about it in general as a phenomenon. And that's fine. But let's see if we can actually make esprit de l'escalier feel at home in English, welcoming it into our sentences more naturally. Here's how. Talk about an esprit de l'escalier that grips you, befalls you, occurs to you, tortures you, etc. Or, use the passive voice and focus on people being gripped by an esprit de l'escalier, being tortured by an esprit de l'escalier, etc. Or, say that some quip, question, comment, or joke comes to you in l'esprit de l'escalier. (Did you notice how I stuck another L in there that time? That's because I needed it to mean "the spirit," not just "spirit.") Or, talk about people disclosing their esprit de l'escalier, saving their esprit de l'escalier for next time, or posting their esprit de l'escalier on social media. Or, say that someone's witty comment looks, sounds, smells, or feels like esprit de l'escalier, meaning they must have rehearsed it before, back when they first wished they could have delivered it on the spot. Finally, if you worry that your context won't reveal what esprit de l'escalier means, then simply shed the French and say "staircase wit" or "spirit of the staircase." examples: "Bryson made his name as the anti-travel writer, going to accessible places, and finding them the opposite of exotic. Ox-eyed as Odysseus but sulky as Achilles, he crabbily voiced his complaints with the flame-grilling phrases that come to most of us in esprit de l'escalier (and sometimes did to him)."    — Robert Potts, The Guardian, 28 September 1998 "'I shall write a book called The Inaudible Mistress. A woman who says exactly what she thinks about her lovers while they're [dating] her... That the romantic Don Juan is just a crook. Only I'm afraid that in reality she wouldn't find that out till afterwards. Still, one might be allowed a bit of poetic licence--make the esprit de l'escalier happen at the same time as the romantic affair. The moonlight, and My darling, and I adore you, and those extraordinary sensations--and at the same moment You’re nothing but a sneakthief, nothing but a low blackguardly swindler.'"  — Aldous Huxley, Eyeless in Gaza, 1936 has this page helped you understand "esprit de l'escalier"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "esprit de l'escalier" without saying "staircase wit" or "belated comeback." try it out: Talk about a time when you've been gripped by l'esprit d'escalier after you sent an email, or hung up the phone, or posted a comment or review online, or left a meeting or a party. Or, talk about which is worse and why: l'esprit d'escalier, or the wish to take back what you did say. If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game this month is "Subject Line Crosswords." We'll revisit some of the email subject lines from 2019 issues, using them as a tool for recall. Each day this month, see if you can complete the mini-crossword with words we studied last year. If you need extra clues, look below the puzzle to view definitions and parts of speech. And I'll share the answers in the following issue. Enjoy! From the previous issue: Extra clues: ACROSS 2. noun meaning "a group of loyal, unthinking followers who are eager to praise and support their leader" 3. adjective meaning "full and swarming, or very productive" DOWN 1. adjective meaning "sloppy, dirty, untidy, or unclean" Answers: If you like, you can review the words claque, teeming, and slovenly. Try this today:  Extra clues: ACROSS 2. verb meaning "to scatter something all around, as if to help it grow, spread, and develop everywhere" 3. noun meaning "too much growth, or too much development" DOWN 1. adjective meaning "alone, cut off from other groups, and too focused on narrow, limited ideas" review this word: 1. A near opposite of ESPRIT DE L'ESCALIER is A. READY WIT. B. NATIVE WIT. C. CAUSTIC WIT. 2. Taylor Swift is unimpressed by your esprit de l'escalier: _____ A. "New money. Suit and tie. I can read you like a magazine." B. "The cycle ends right now, 'cause you can't lead me down that road." C. "Say it in the street, that's a knock-out. But you say it in a tweet, that's a cop-out." 1. A 2. C a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.