an angel passes

English edit

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.”

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”)