Paff

• an iteration of the tauftauf interjection throughout the book. From German taufen, to baptise

• piff-poof, poff, piffle, and other variations are used in a derogatory sense to express contempt for nonsense

• a variation on the onomatopoeic Tip throughout the book, meaning variously in different contexts a request for a cash tip as a reward for a tour through the museum (Kathe), an auctorial injunction that we remember the omnipresence of the protagonist HCE (tip → Latin ipse, "himself"), the tap of a branch against the window