L'esprit de l'escalier

Meaning: Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the stairs.

Language: French

Literally: the staircase wit

Category: Everyday

Origin: French; coined by the philosopher Denis Diderot.

More untranslatable words — Everyday

Râler — To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.
Ikigai — The thing that makes you want to get out of bed — the intersection of what you love, what…
Ma — The meaningful negative space between things — a deliberate pause in music, an empty room…
Kummerspeck — The weight you gain from emotional eating — the extra pounds that accumulate during heart…
Verschlimmbessern — To make something worse in a well-intentioned attempt to improve it.
Sturmfrei — The liberating feeling of having the house entirely to yourself — when parents or a partn…

Terroir — The unique character that a place — its soil, climate and tradition — gives to a wine or…
Flemme — A total absence of motivation to do anything — a profound, almost existential reluctance…
Spleen — A deep, existential ennui — a heavy, formless sadness and disgust with the world and ones…
Épanouissement — The full flourishing of a person — blooming into your most complete, radiant self. More t…
Ressourcement — The act of returning to one's roots or origins to find renewal — going back to a place, t…
Dépaysement — The disorienting yet often pleasant feeling of being far from home, immersed in the unfam…

Loading the full interactive collection…