It's actually quite remarkable the number of places a single keyword can be used. We have

  * Static functions in C
  * Static variables in C
  * Static members in C++
  * Static instance variables in Java
  * Static methods in Java

The strange combination of C++'s namespaces and static begets static members, which almost make sense in context. But then Java stole the syntax and not the rest of the language (thank god), leading to its strange, almost contradictory usage.