Go to What I SHOULD Have Said... main page
Here is one story retold,
albeit with a pithier ending:
From Darla:
Tooth and Male
What happened: I went to the dentist a few years back and once I was stretched out on the "dental couch" with a yard of equipment in my mouth, my dentist asked me, "Why is it that all dancers have small breasts?" I'm sure I was beet red as I am a former dancer and guess what else.
What I said: I couldn't say much of anything.
What I SHOULD have said: "For the same reason that all dentists have small drills."
L'esprit d'escalier
The French call it l'esprit d'escalier, "the wit of the staircase," those biting ripostes that are thought of just seconds too late, on the way out of the room-or even, to tell the truth, days later. It's happened to you: you've suddenly thought of just what would put your foe in his or her place, but past the time when the arrow could sting its victim. You've stewed in your own juice ever since, and the chance for singeing repartee is gone forever.
Or is it?
Dorothy Parker or Oscar Wilde may have had the rapier wit to tweak their tormentors on the spot, but for the rest of us, we offer the Internet's only L'esprit d'escalier web site!
