22 Sep '15 15:35>
Foreign Language Idioms Meaningful to You
Please comment briefly on why each foreign language idiom you post is meaningful to you and include its website link. Numbering them consecutively with one idiom per post will also provide a specific reference for sidebar discussions as a courtesy to other contributors. Enjoy.....
1) "Avoir l'Esprit d'Escalier"
“Avoir l’esprit d’escalier - or sometimes “avoir l’esprit de l’escalier” is yet another weird French idiom. Literally, it means to have the wit of the staircase. So it means nothing really! In English, you sometimes call this “escalator wit”, or afterwit. It means to make a witty comeback, to answer someone in a witty (and fast) way. Something the French really admire, and are trained to do as part of our national sport: arguing and debating."
http://french.about.com/od/expressions/fl/Meaning-Of-The-French-Expression-Avoir-LEsprit-DEscalier.htm
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Comment: Several years ago another still active member of Red Hot Pawn taught me the French Idiom "Avoir l'Esprit d'Escalier" as a reference to "polite repartee and/or clever rejoinders you wish you had said during the party as you're on the way up the staircase about to call it an evening".
Please comment briefly on why each foreign language idiom you post is meaningful to you and include its website link. Numbering them consecutively with one idiom per post will also provide a specific reference for sidebar discussions as a courtesy to other contributors. Enjoy.....
1) "Avoir l'Esprit d'Escalier"
“Avoir l’esprit d’escalier - or sometimes “avoir l’esprit de l’escalier” is yet another weird French idiom. Literally, it means to have the wit of the staircase. So it means nothing really! In English, you sometimes call this “escalator wit”, or afterwit. It means to make a witty comeback, to answer someone in a witty (and fast) way. Something the French really admire, and are trained to do as part of our national sport: arguing and debating."
http://french.about.com/od/expressions/fl/Meaning-Of-The-French-Expression-Avoir-LEsprit-DEscalier.htm
__________________
Comment: Several years ago another still active member of Red Hot Pawn taught me the French Idiom "Avoir l'Esprit d'Escalier" as a reference to "polite repartee and/or clever rejoinders you wish you had said during the party as you're on the way up the staircase about to call it an evening".