Go to What I SHOULD Have Said... main page
Here is one story retold,
albeit with a pithier ending:
From asecondtoolate:
I bet you do...
What happened: the first week or so of february, i read an article online about private detectives noting the week before valentine's day as their busiest time to catch cheaters. finding this ironically amusing, i forwarded the story to my boyfriend. he called me to say he too thought the article was funny and that he had to end our conversation quickly because he was on his way to court (he's a lawyer) and needed to make a phone call first.
What I said: i said okay and we both hung up.
What I SHOULD have said: yeah, i bet you need to make a quick phone call
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!
