Well that's embarrassing. I learned Java in 1996 in college. I was introduced to Python (1.5.2) at a startup in 2000. The startup was probably equally split between Java and Python code. I know the "this" module didn't exist till around 2004, but somehow in all these years I never made the connection and did indeed miss the joke. (But, as far as I can remember, I never accidentally attempted to import this in Python, and wasn't aware newbies did that.)

(Aside, I've essentially used Python almost exclusively since I picked it up. It's served me well in my career. I never have cared for Java.)

Anywho... thank you for explaining the joke that's now old enough to drink, but has eluded me all this time. :-)