The second word is tag.
Thanks @buuzn03 ! It was raining and windy yesterday at school - but still above zero so we saw boys in flip flops. For Parents Day (as I originally mentioned) I have now learned that the boys tended to be more casual than the girls. I was told that the girls dressed up more (wore dresses or skirts) that day than they typically wear to school.
On your final note, I agree with you on the difference benchmarks for genders @ dress code. Our last school and current school have adopted more strict policies on attire because of what you described. This topic was addressed at our last school and the current one because of short hem length and spaghetti straps . Down in the tropics for the past several years this was also a weather issue - girls complained it was too hot to wear the khaki skirt or plaid skirt to class. Girls felt it unfair that boys could wear khaki shorts to class, but they would get a DC violation if they wore same khaki shorts! So I think schools should look at gender neutral dress codes…(cue the attacks for saying that). At the current school, we know girls who have been told to go change their footwear because they wore flip flops to class or to lunch - even though the boys get away with it.
The weather thing works both ways. I was on a welcoming committee a few years ago for faculty candidates from a couple of New England boarding schools. They were amused that our dress code allowed for the students to wear boots when the temp dipped below 60 degrees
I some ER’s there is something called the “teeth to tattoo ratio”. But that could be just a “Southernism” that will, no doubt, rile up people on CC with another ratio - “self righteous to humor ratio”. Please do not take this too seriously and as my esteemed “Better Parents” above would say “chill”.
DH has one for a male equivalent to tattoos on old men - but will wait to see if anyone else comes up with it :bz :))
@skieurope it does not rhyme with that…To quote the great Jeopardy host “Ooo, sorry, that is incorrect”…the correct answer for an old man could be “old fart art” :)]
I thought it was “lamp”
Well… @skieurope my first thought of what went with tag was “stag tag”…but that couldn’t possibly violate CC rules. My brainstorming had produced a rhyming label where the last word was “pic”, so I’m thinking maybe I should probably abstain from any more creative thinking and leave these labels to others. 
@Golfgr8 this is the first year we’ve done uniforms versus dress code for DD and we were very vocal & instrumental in incorporating pants for girls, especially on cold weather days. However, the skirts must be no more than 3” above the knee cap. Prior to uniforms, straps had to be three inches wide on shirts, skirts touch kneecaps and no leggings unless worn under an appropriate length skirt. It’s been my experience that both boys and girls push dress code rules as far as they can, no matter what the weather.
The Brits prefer “tea” instead of coffee?
Now I’m more confused. The offensive term I admit to knowing that would combine “tea” and something that rhymes with “tag” is not a tattoo. Off to find a young person…
I believe the tea comment was unrelated to tattoos, but rather, it was implying that the tea is being served on the thread. Tea being slang for gossip or informative tidbit…
On a related note, I shudder to think what tea phrase @ChoatieMom was envisioning.
@ChoatieMom let me know if you figure it out…I’m beyond confused…of course, that is my steady state.
Is this the foreign language thread?!?!
“Tea-[rhymes with tag]ing” is a somewhat impolite gesture that an player does after killing an opponent in a multiplayer first person shooter video game. I’ve heard much giggling, laughter and agonizing yells from my boys’ room in reference to the act.
“Dink ink” is the male equivalent to “tart art” and refers to certain male tattoos that are now considered outdated and uncool.
Please note: there will be a vocabulary quiz at the end of the week.
@Altras Your first vocab quiz item - you might want to check Urban Dictionary for a more popular meaning than the one you’ve supplied. @-)
@Altras, you might want to check the definition of that first term…
To get back to the original question, I don’t think it’s a power move by the boys. Hair has always been an intergenerational issue, with the older not “getting” the fashions of the younger. I’m not a big fan of long hair either in most cases but some kids can rock it. At my prep school the boys would loosen their ties once they had passed the teacher who did cursory dress code inspections on the way into school. Nice, respectful boys who just didn’t like the feel of the noose. This was in the 70’s and 80’s. Flip flops have become much more commonly paired with dressier clothes. Not the rubber kind, but something like Rainbows. I live in NE too and it’s very common to see boys in shorts well into the fall. The boys don’t seem to feel the cold. My kid went to college in Maine and in 4 years never wore a proper winter jacket. His nod to Maine winters was a mid-weight sweatshirt.
As for tats, in every state I know of they’re legal at 18. Many seniors and some juniors are 18 or older.
Channeling my inner Miss Manners:
Gentle Reader: Please do not rely on your children to give you accurate definitions of Gen Z slang.
You may also want to make sure that SafeSearch is on before googling videos demonstrating this term.
One reason Tabor did away with their more formal dress code was that kids tried to subvert it. Why waste the bandwidth?
And they are never enforced evenly between boys and girls.
Further evidence that wearing shorts in colder weather isn’t a “preppy privilege power move”. 
https://www.today.com/parents/it-s-freezing-boys-just-want-wear-shorts-should-you-t65566
Scarred 