après nous le délugephr.
/ˌapreɪ ˈnuː lə deɪˌluːʒ/, U.S. /ˌɑpreɪ ˈnu lə deɪˌluʒ/ ‘After us the flood.’ Used to express complete indifference to what may happen when one is gone. Cf. après moi le déluge phr.
ΚΠ
1809 R. L. Edgeworth Ess. Professional Educ. vii. 359 ‘Après nous le deluge’—was the favourite maxim of Madame de Pompadour, and of that profligate, weak government, which preceded, which probably prepared the calamities of France.
1838 Morning Post 3 Apr. 4 Their calculation is short and simple—‘Church and Crown will last our time; and, apres nous le dêluge.’
1864 Mrs C. A. Hopkinson in A. H. L. Phelps Our Country 324 We folded our hands, and said, ‘apres nous, le deluge.’ The deluge, however, has come upon us, and not on our innocent children.
1955 N. Mitford Eng. Aristocracy in I. Hamilton Penguin Bk. 20th-cent. Ess. (1999) 330 The younger generation are no longer planned for, and there is a general feeling of ‘après nous le déluge.’
1973 Bull. Atomic Scientists Mar. 52/1 To allow people to attack the very structure of life..is to make apres nous le deluge the watchword of society and to enshrine selfishness as the dominant political value.
2007 Dædalus Fall 18/2 Après nous le deluge is in principle inconsistent with the public interest.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
phr.1809