I think it's very deliberate that these sorts of expressions are inside-out from the corresponding statements. It mixes and matches modes of thinking in my mind - the same kind of mistake as command-query separation violations. When I read a list comprehension, I can read it left to right: "A list (`[`) of each `item` that I get, if I look `for` each `sublist` that is `in l`, then `for` each `item` which is `in` that `sublist`." And the entire description is - well - descriptive, not imperative. With the other order, I have to think in terms of explicitly following the steps, and then mentally translating the last `item` into an imperative "... and put it into the result list".