In everyday language, the Dutch word "straks" is often associated with a reference to a time in the near future. An interesting hypothesis, although not supported by conventional linguistic sources, suggests that "later" could possibly be an abbreviation of a longer expression. According to this theory, "later" could have originated from a phrase such as "later after coffee", an expression that could be imagined in a historical context in which breaks for coffee or tea were a significant part of social and working life.