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Is there a term for when you think of a joke in the context of a conversation, but the conversation ended hours ago?

My friends have told me of the term "l'espirit de l'escalier" in French, and the German calque "treppenwitz". Do people use the English calque of "escalator wit?"

yincrash
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  • You mean you couldn't see anything funny when you heard it and only realized it was a joke hours later ? – Centaurus Apr 06 '15 at 15:40
  • @centaurus, I thought of a joke that would be witty if I said it during the conversation, but when I thought of the joke was much later after the conversation had already ended. – yincrash Apr 06 '15 at 15:59
  • The Japanese have an expression for a person slow to see the point of a joke. It likens them to a fluorescent light, which doesn't come on the moment you turn the switch, but lights up in a couple of hesitant bursts. But perhaps that's not exactly the same thing. – WS2 Apr 06 '15 at 16:07

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The translation of 'l'esprit de l'escalier' is 'staircase wit'. Visualize a high-society party in pre-revolution France at a stately house in Paris. The reception hall is usually on the second floor. You miss your chance to riposte a riveting 'bon mot' and then, as you are leaving the party (descending the staircase) you think of the remark you might have said to verbally knock down that pontificating ass and put him in his proper place.

user3847
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  • Just FYI, "staircase wit" is not a common phrase in AmEng. – Nick2253 Apr 06 '15 at 16:33
  • You're right, Nick2253. The 'comon' phrase is 'l'esprit de l'escalier' just as 'non sequitor, 'chutzpah' and 'modus vivendi' are common phrases--borrowed from other languages. You can find them in any decent English language dictionary. – user3847 Apr 06 '15 at 17:51