an angel passes

English

Alternative forms

• an angel passes by

Phrase

an angel passes

1. Used to denote an awkward pause.
   • 1936, Agatha Christie, Cards on the Table, →ISBN, page 17:

     There was a momentary silence. Mrs. Oliver said: "Is it twenty-to or twenty past? An angel passing . . . My feet aren't crossed—it must be a black angel!"

   • 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.”

Usage notes

• This phrase is not particularly common in English. Its origins possibly lie in Plutarch, referencing the passage of Hermes.

Related terms

• pregnant pause
• tumbleweed moment
• crickets

Translations

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”)