an angel passes - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
- Used to denote an awkward pause.
1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 4:
As Case was picking up his beer, one of those strange instants of silence descended, as though a hundred unrelated conversations had simultaneously arrived at the same pause. […] Ratz grunted. “An angel passed.”
- This phrase is not particularly common in English. Its origins possibly lie in Plutarch, referencing the passage of Hermes.
used to denote an awkward pause
- Ancient Greek: Ἑρμῆς ἐπεισελήλυθε (Hermês epeiselḗluthe, literally “Hermes has entered”)
- Catalan: ha passat un àngel (literally “an angel just passed by”)
- Danish: der gik en engel gennem stuen (literally “an angel went through the living room”)
- French: un ange passe (fr)
- Russian: дура́к роди́лся (ru) (durák rodílsja, literally “a fool has been born”), мент роди́лся (ment rodílsja, literally “a cop has been born”)