afterthought

afterthought
noun

1: an idea occurring later
2: something (such as a part or feature) not thought of originally : something secondary

Examples of afterthought in a Sentence

Then I remembered, almost as an afterthought, to feed the cat.
The fact was hidden deep in the report, almost as an afterthought.
The lounge was added to the office as an afterthought.
Recent Examples on the Web
Smith has been an afterthought in this offense of late with A.J. Brown dominating targets and opposing secondaries.
—Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Oct. 2023
Sometimes the holiday tablescape can be an afterthought, and that’s understandable!
—Sarah Yang, Sunset Magazine, 26 Oct. 2023
In the midst of all that chaos, the money was an afterthought.
—Dave Schilling, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'afterthought.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History
Etymology
AFTER- + THOUGHT entry 1

First Known Use
1590, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of afterthought was in 1590
See more words from the same year

Dictionary Entries Near afterthought
after the hour

afterthought

aftertime

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afterthought

Nachtraeglicher Einfall

Translation of afterthought – English–German dictionary afterthought noun a later thought nachtraeglicher Einfall I only took my camera with me as an afterthought, but I was pleased that I did. (Translation of afterthought from the PASSWORD English–German Dictionary © 2014 K Dictionaries Ltd)


Other ways to say this

NOUN

nachtraelich
subsequently, afterwards, retrospectively, afterthought, arrears

nachzuegler
stragglers, latecomers, laggard, afterthought

im nachhinein
afterwards, hindsight, retrospectively, posteriori, afterthought


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Treppenwitz

Treppenwitzes, plural Treppenwitze ) (fairly rare) staircase wit; l'esprit de l'escalier; a remark or rejoinder thought of only when it is too late. (more common) an ironic and absurd coincidence; something that, if it were not true, would seem like a bad joke.
Treppenwitz
Vorfall, der wie ein schlechter Scherz wirkt

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L'esprit de l'escalier

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the story by Catherynne M. Valente, see L'Esprit de L'Escalier.
L'esprit de l'escalier or l'esprit d'escalier (UK: /l;;spri; d(; l);;sk;lje;/, US: /l;;spri; d(; ;l);sk;;lje;/,[1] French: [l;sp;i d(; l);skalje]; lit.;'staircase wit') is a French term used in English for the predicament of thinking of the perfect reply too late.

Origin
This name for the phenomenon comes from French encyclopedist and philosopher Denis Diderot's description of such a situation in his Paradoxe sur le com;dien ("Paradox on the Comedian").[2] During a dinner at the home of statesman Jacques Necker, a remark was made to Diderot which left him speechless at the time, because, he explains, "a sensitive man, such as myself, overwhelmed by the argument levelled against him, becomes confused and doesn't come to himself again until at the bottom of the stairs" ("l'homme sensible, comme moi, tout entier ; ce qu'on lui objecte, perd la t;te et ne se retrouve qu'au bas de l'escalier").

In this case, "the bottom of the stairs" refers to the architecture of the kind of h;tel particulier or mansion to which Diderot had been invited. In such houses, the reception rooms were on the ;tage noble, one floor above the ground floor.[3] To have reached the bottom of the stairs means to have definitively left the gathering.

In other languages
An older English term that was sometimes used for this meaning is afterwit; it is used, for example, in James Joyce's Ulysses (Chapter 9).

The Yiddish trepverter ("staircase words")[4] and the German loan translation Treppenwitz express the same idea as l'esprit de l'escalier. However, in contemporary German Treppenwitz has an additional meaning: it refers to events or facts that seem to contradict their own background or context.[5] The frequently used phrase Treppenwitz der Weltgeschichte ("staircase joke of world history") derives from the title of a book by that name by William Lewis Hertslet [de][6] (1882; much expanded 1895) and means "irony of history" or "paradox of history".[7][8]

In Russian, the notion is close to the native Russian saying "задним умом крепки" (zadnim umom krepki, "Our hindsight is strong").

The French expression is also used in French. English speakers sometimes call this "escalator wit", or "staircase wit".[9]

See also
Comic timing
Epimetheus
"The Comeback" (Seinfeld)
Hindsight
References
 "esprit de l'escalier"[dead link] (US) and "esprit de l'escalier". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-03-22.
 Paradoxe sur le com;dien, 1773, remani; en 1778; Diderot II, Classiques Larousse 1934, p. 56
 "Piano nobile - (Architecture): Definition". En.mimi.hu. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
 Mark Cohen (2010-03-22). "Chabon and Alter: Is it Esprit d'escalier or Trepverter?". The Forward. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
 Treppenwitz, DUDEN – Das gro;e W;rterbuch der Deutschen Sprache in zehn B;nden, Mannheim 2000. "Bedeutung: Vorfall, der wie ein schlechter Scherz wirkt." [Meaning: event which looks like a bad joke]
 Hertslet, William Lewis; Helmolt, Hans Ferdinand (2006-06-23). Der Treppenwitz der Weltgeschichte. Geschichtliche Irrt;mer, Entstellungen und Erfindungen, William Lewis Hertslet, Winfried Hoffman. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
 "Treppenwitz : German » English | PONS". en.pons.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-20.
 Langenscheidts Gro;es Schulw;rterbuch Deutsch-Englisch, Berlin, M;nchen 1977
 "Merriam-Webster Online". Merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
External links
 The dictionary definition of l'esprit de l'escalier at Wiktionary
 The dictionary definition of afterthought at Wiktionary