after you

after you

1. A gesture, usually polite, urging another person to take a turn at something ahead of the speaker.
   • 1840, William Dimond, Englishmen in India; a comic opera, in three acts, etc., page 73:

     [Beaufort commands him to go in] No, no, after you, Baron-I insist!

   • 2005, Keith Dixon, Ghostfires: A Novel, page 4:

     After you. I insist. And then that sharklike smile.

   • 2007, Paul Verhaeghen, Omega Minor, page 145:

     We greeted each other when we met in the hallway, from time to time we waited for the elevator together, hands folded behind our backs—no, no, after you, please! No, after you!

• after you, Alphonse

• ladies first