Friday 12 December 2014

Afterthoughts

I just recently learned that "der After" in German means... well, butthole. If you're a Finn, this should ring a bell; "ahteri" in Finnish means butt in general (and also the back part of a ship).

It's a mystery how I managed to live in Germany for almost 4 years without bumping into this word. Even more mysterious is how Germans manage to eat After Eight with a straight face.

After this realization, many English concepts acquire unexpected side meanings. For example, "aftershave" might mean something completely different to Germans and the English speaking world.

I had also wondered previously why many German-speaking countries use the French "après ski" instead of "after ski". Maybe this is the reason.

Speaking of butts, the Finnish post just recently published these stamps to honour Tom of Finland, the artist who basically invented the leather-driven gay style.


Too bad I had just sent a bunch of unnecessary but required papers to the tax office when I got my set of stamps. I really had to fight the urge to re-send the papers, just in case, and of course with the stamp pictured on the right side.