Leonor Jean-Christine Soulas d’Allainval was no Shakespeare. His first play, “L’Embarras des richesses,” was a three-act comedy that premiered in 1726 and was performed only four times in the hopeful playwright’s lifetime. At age 53 he died embarrassingly franc-less at the Hotel de Paris. That’s not to say Soulas did not leave his linguistic mark, however unintentionally. The title of his play directly translates to ‘the burden of wealth.’ But that meaning seems to have been lost in transit across the English Channel courtesy of a Brit.

That Englishman, John Ozell, an accountant and translator died wealthy thanks to his numerical acumen. It was however not his talent for accounting but rather his 1735 translation of Soulas’ play that would prove to be his more lasting legacy, perhaps intentionally. Today, ‘an embarrassment of riches,’ as it’s come to be universally known among idioms, simply means too much of a good thing.

In the here and now, a recent New York Times article chronicled the sun-setting on the current era of excess that has known no equal, including the Roaring Twenties. “For the ultrawealthy, 2015 was an embarrassment of riches,” the Times’ James Stewart wrote March 11th. He referenced such extravagances as $100 million penthouses, $179 million Picassos, $48 million blue diamonds and $13 million vintage Jaguars.

But something happened towards the middle of last year in this land of excess; embarrassment has given way to anxiety. In an apparent refutation of ‘show don’t tell,’ prospective buyers along Billionaires Row, Manhattan’s 57th Street between Columbus Circle and Park Avenue, have begun to blanch at the idea of movin’ on up. Evidently, the $6,000-plus per square foot price tag was easier to envision when the half dozen rising new towers were just so many deep holes in the ground.

Now that the fabulous-five, 1000-foot tall “supertall” towers are actually scraping the skyline, sales have plunged from their towering great heights. A meagre 189 Manhattan apartments sold last year for $10 million or more, a 12 percent decline from 2014. Similar tales of woe emanate from art and ‘priceless’ car auctions at which the wares on offer appear to indeed have no price, at least for which they’ve sold.

What’s a consignor to do? For starters, pray. Perhaps in Mandarin? A recent report found that despite the country’s well telecast economic slowdown, China now boasts 568 billionaires, topping the United States’ 535. Even on a city-to-city level, Beijing’s 100 billionaires now best New York’s 95.