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http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2012Feb/0744.html both flexbox and grid use start/end for alignment values, while it would be more consistent with flow terminology to use before/after in cross direction (flexbox) and in column direction (grid)
After discussion, decided that it doesn't make sense to use the flow-relative terms at all, since flexboxes can flow in *any* direction. Instead, we're using flex-start/end for all the alignment properties.