The perfect comeback. When caught up in a serious confrontation or debate, there is nothing more satisfying than finding the perfect retort, an unarguable response that completely disarms the other’s argument. Likewise, there is nothing more frustrating than having that perfect comeback occur to you hours or even days later. “I should have said . . .” is the disheartening realization that your perfect comeback is now perfectly pointless.

The French have a phrase: “l’esprit de l’escalier” which literally translates as “the spirit of the staircase.” You leave the room and go down the stairs. Only then does the perfect bon mot come to mind; the perfect repartee; the perfect witticism. Victorian English translated this French phrase as “afterwit.”

“The spirit of the staircase” is when thoug…