high-marking
n.— «Did a practice called “high-marking” cause the avalanche that killed two Iowa men? Witnesses say the men were competing to see who could drive their snowmobile farthest up a hillside near Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.» —“Avalanche Kills Two Iowa Men” in Colorado KCRG-TV (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Jan. 3, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Sure, there’s winter, spring, summer, and fall. But the seasons in between have even more poetic names. In Alaska, greenup describes a sudden, dramatic burst of green after a long, dark winter. And there are many, many terms for a cold snap...
In this bonus A Way with Words minicast, Martha and Grant explore the ways foreign place names transform on official maps and in local slang. Discover the stories behind names like “Picketwire” and “Key West,” showing how...