Treppenwitz

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German

Etymology

From Treppe (stairs, steps) +‎ -n- +‎ Witz (wit), a calque of French esprit de l’escalier.

Pronunciation

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Noun

Treppenwitz m (strong, genitive Treppenwitzes, plural Treppenwitze)

  1. (fairly rare) staircase wit; l'esprit de l'escalier; a remark or rejoinder thought of only when it is too late
  2. (more common) an ironic and absurd coincidence; something that, if it were not true, would seem like a bad joke
    ein Treppenwitz der Weltgeschichtean irony of world history

Declension

Further reading