lake lice
n. Pejorative name given to motorized personal watercraft, such as Jet Skis and SeaDoos.
Examples
2004
But the problems created by personal watercraft, particularly by Jet Skis (aka lake lice), go beyond endangering the drinking water source. Jet Skis contribute to noise and air pollution and damage the fragile ecological balance of the lake and surrounding vegetation. They create noxious fumes that pollute the air and linger on long after the boats are gone. Water is continuously contaminated by oil and gas residues to the amply documented detriment of fish and wild life.
—Steven Vago, “Letters,” The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, WA), March 16, 2004
1998
If the canoe is all-Canadian, so is the anticanoe. It's called the personal watercraft, and it's roaring on a lake near you.
—“Lake lice: the anticanoe,” The Globe and Mail, July 09, 1998
1998 (earliest)
This is America, and jet skiers — so far at least — have a perfect right to terrorize whomever they please. Generically, their obnoxious machines are called motorized personal watercraft. Jet Ski is actually Kawasaki's trademarked name for its models, but most people use the name for all such machines. Of course lakeshore residents, swimmers, beachgoers and boaters have other names for them and their typically ruthless riders — names like "Hell's Angels of the waterways" and "lake lice."
—Nancy Sheehan, “'Lake lice' are infesting our peaceful waterfronts,” Worcester Telegram & Gazette, May 25, 1998
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