Strudel is a word with multiple meanings in German that may on the surface appear disconnected. And yet with a little imagination, the connection not hard to find.
As English speakers, we are most likely familiar with the one meaning, that of a pastry made by rolling a filling, usually apple but strudels with other fillings are also possible, in a flaky dough. That is to say apple strudel.
Strudel is also the Germans word used for the "at" sign (i.e. @).
But there are both really secondary meanings for the word. The real meaning of the word is German can be perceived by recognizing the similar swirling shape of the dough in an apple strudel and the @ sign. a "Strudel" is a whirlpool. As in English, the word is used both literally (i.e. the swirling shape of water) and figuratively (ex. "The whirlpool of ideas can be hard to understand.").
This is one of the things that makes German and Germany so interesting to me.
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