English Dictionary

staircase wit

名詞

慣用表現 稀用 不可算名詞

(rare, idiomatic) Thinking of an idea or course of action too late to use it effectively, or the tendency to do so.

日本語の意味

使い時を逃し、遅れて思いついたために効果的に活用できないアイデアや直感を指す / 行動に移すタイミングを逸し、もはや役に立たない発想や案のこと

When she left the room, his staircase wit finally produced the perfect retort, but it was far too late.

彼女が部屋を出た後で、彼はいつも後から思いつく機知でようやく完璧な返しを思いついたが、あまりにも遅すぎた。

意味（1）

(rare, idiomatic) Thinking of an idea or course of action too late to use it effectively, or the tendency to do so.

When I have completed a manuscript, if I lay it away in a drawer or pigeon-hole, it lies there quietly enough, and my mind seems wholly discharged of it. But if I mail it, I straightaway find myself tormented with staircase wit in the shape of emendations.