Afterclappe

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A peal of thunder heard after the main storm has seemingly passed ; an unwelcome development that comes long after a matter appeared settled
2. A late roll of thunder sounding once the worst of the tempest is over ; a surprising repercussion that surfaces after things seemed to have ended
3. The rumble of thunder following the principal storm ; an unforeseen result or unpleasant event that emerges once a situation looked resolved

Etymology: The "after" in this word is the familiar one, meaning "following," and the second half comes from "clap," which in older English meant a sudden loud noise or a blow, and was often used for thunder. An afterclap was originally a secondary peal of thunder that rolled in after the main storm seemed to be over, so it described a second burst of noise arriving when the danger appeared to have passed. From that literal sense the word moved into everyday use for any unwelcome consequence that arrives late, after an event has apparently ended. The final "-e" in this spelling reflects older English orthography, when many nouns ended in an unpronounced "e," and modern usage has dropped it. The exact date of the earliest recorded figurative sense is uncertain, so it is safest to say the figurative meaning grew out of the thunder image rather than being fixed to a particular author or year.