dorm disease
n.— «Meningococcal meningitis, the bacterium-induced inflammation of the lining of the brain, primarily affects first-year college students who live in dormitories. Sometimes referred to as “dorm disease,” health officials say it is a small—but real—risk.» —“College freshmen need vaccinations, too” by Jayme Blaschke in Texas State University-San Marcos Currents (San Marcos, Texas) July 29, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...
Aubrey in Waco, Texas, says her mother used to warn the kids against contracting honkus of the bonkus, a fanciful name for a contagious disease. This colloquial term probably comes from the words bonk and konk, meaning “to hit” or...