Both my aunt and uncle were professional violinists who performed regularly at Carnegie Hall and had instruments (yes, plural) that were worth more than the house I grew up in. They practiced for hours on end, to say the least, and the result? What was commonly known as a "violin hickey" - a mark you get on the underside of your left chin where you hold the violin. I remember the weeks leading up to a concert, I would ambitiously practice significantly more than normal and form a violin hickey. "Look mom, look how much I'm practicing," I'd say as I eagerly showed her the resulting mark.
In swimming, it was common for girls to layer up on suits to create drag while at practice so that you would perform better at meets. Those multiple suits being worn while rotating the shoulders over and over while covering nearly 10,000 yards a day would create what we referred to as a "suit hickey" - a mark you get right between your shoulder and neck where your suit straps would rub. The thought of being considered a "serious swimmer" outweighed the pain and discomfort. Although, now that I think about it, the suits were probably just a size too small...
This morning as I was changing, I first felt a stinging sensation, and then noticed a horizontal mark on my upper abdomen - a mark left by the rubbing of my sports bra from my long run last night. I'm naming it "sports bra hickey." And today, as I walk around the office like the Hunchback of Notre Dame trying to avoid contact w/ that area as much as possible, I still have a small grin on my face as I secretly labeled myself as a *tough running gal* :)
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