freshman stripe
n.— «Also at UCD: the infamous Freshman Stripe…Since the inner campus is closed to automotive traffic, many, many people ride bikes to class. When the rains come in late Fall, the freshman can always be spotted because they have a vertical stripe running up their backs, caused by the spray from their tires. Eventually they wise up and buy fenders.» —“Re: Spotting Freshmen?” by Scott Fischbein Usenet: alt.folklore.college Sept. 27, 1993. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Bonnie in Jacksonville, Florida, is in search of a term that has to do with rain adhering under the eaves. She’s sure she once heard such an expression. There’s water adhesion and surface tension, as well as the Coanda effect, but none of those...
A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child’s letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stories are left untold by these forgotten...