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Wednesday, August 3, 2016

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Esprit d'escalier

I love French and German for the supercharged bon mots that have no translation in English. Let's see, ten of my favorites...

Ersatz
Schadenfraude
Klatch
Dreck
Blitzkrieg  

Rapport
Malaise
Deja vu
Soupcon
Esprit d'escalier

Esprit d'escalier is a delightful term. Literally "stairway thoughts," that's when you think of a snappy comeback to a person who's just insulted or embarrassed you, but you think of it way too late, as in when you're already down the stairs.  

Thanks to Larry David, "esprit d'escalier" was resurrected as a pop culture American idiom. Try to find anyone who was alive in the 90s that doesn't immediately get it when you say "jerk store."



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