This might be the most bizarre thing you've ever read about traveling, but passengers going through TSA have been warned about "swamp crotch".
Look, nobody is at their best when going through security at the airport, and we're all stressed out.
When you booked this flight months ago, you thought saving $50 and traveling at 6AM was a good idea... until someone yelled at you for having keys in your pockets.
On the flip side to that, there are the people who act like they've never left their house before, let alone gone through TSA, so I sometimes get the annoyance from the staff.
But if the long lines and hostility of it all aren't enough to stress you out, what about getting called out for having "swamp crotch"?
One traveler recently shared their saga on Reddit after their airport security experience turned unexpectedly personal.
Describing herself as a “5'8", 169lbs, 'midsized adult woman',” she explained that her “crotch was flagged twice” during screening, prompting an uncomfortable double pat-down while wearing “bike shorts and normal underwear.”
She wasn’t offended, but was left wondering why she got stopped while her wife didn’t. When asked by another user if she had been sweating before stepping into the scanner, she admitted: “Probably a little, I'm terrified of flying so I was nervous."
Turns out, she’s not alone in this mystery.
Another Reddit user shared a similar frustration about getting his “sensitive area” frisked over and over, despite trying to troubleshoot the issue himself.
He swapped double-knee trousers for canvas pants, then jeans, then pajama bottoms - each time hoping for a different outcome. But every flight ended the same way: with a pat-down.
Finally, a seasoned traveler dropped the real talk in the comments: sweat is the culprit.
“I've flown a lot over the last few years. I'm a bigger guy and I've had that problem,” he explained. “My unscientific testing has told me the following. If I'm sweaty, I'm getting a pat down.”
He elaborated: “The machine triggers on sweat, especially in the lower back and private areas. Boxer briefs over boxers, the boys need to be high and tight. Pants material doesn't make too much of a difference.
"What does is sag. When you get in the machine, pull your pants as high up as you can. Sagging pants makes a shadow or something, and it guarantees a pat down.”
It turns out that it's so common that TSA has a codeword for it, as one user said: "Last time I flew out of my home airport of Tampa, I got searched too, the guard said something unnerving like 'swamp rot' or 'swamp crotch' or something similiarly embarrassing."
So, the next time you’re wiping sweat from your brow while shuffling toward the body scanner, remember that “swamp crotch” might just earn you a personal visit from a TSA officer.