- A clever, academic spin on the part of a triangle that the worn walkway becomes when it connects the concrete pathways together. In a right triangle, the longest line is called the hypotenuse. It is also the line that connects the two endpoints of the perpendicular lines in the most direct fashion, marking the displacement from point A to point B. Students and people who use this word are most likely aware that walking through the grass and creating a hypathenuse will get them to point B faster than if they walked along the two edges of the triangle.
Hypathenuse
noun; blending
Foot-worn pathways through the grass that diagonally connect two perpendicular concrete paths
Etymology : Blend of the words “hypotenuse” and “path”
Source : August 2007, Friend in conversation
Last modified: 8 December 2010