L’esprit de l’escalier
Literally “the spirit of the staircase”, l’esprit de l’escalier is a French expression used when thinking of the perfect reply too late.
Meaning
- To be slow off the mark.
- To be slow to think of a comeback.
Example sentence
J’ai l’esprit de l’escalier, ça me rend fou !
I always come up with a good comeback, only way too late. It’s driving me crazy!