Go to What I SHOULD Have Said... main page
Here is one story retold,
albeit with a pithier ending:
From Teenage darling:
Style Denial
What happened: I was shopping one day and this amazingly chavvy girl came up to me and said "Why are you wearing that, it looks really stupid". I was wearing a black top with gold detail, red miniskirt and black Converse high tops. I looked great. She was wearing a cheap tracksuit. And she was telling me I looked stupid?
What I said: "Ummm...because I want to."
What I SHOULD have said: "The top's from Zara, skirt's from Topshop, and shoes are from Shelly's. What you're wearing- Oxfam"
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!
