Da ultimate in parodied version of da cranky grammar-lesson term dat we all hated dealing wif in middle school; da teacher would probably have a major uptight hissy-fit (i.e., she would get really "tense") if any of her students made such a mockery of said word-type label. Here, it refers to a gala outdoor get-together whereby everyone hangs out in crappy camping-enclosures dat most folks would just walk right by (i.e., dey would have just "passed by these tents" to look for better-designed models to purchase) at da sporting-goods store, and where dey politely drink from containers wif straws or dispensing-spouts instead of just guzzlingly chugging said beverage-containers' contents in huge noisy messy gulps.
Da "Bionic Woman" star Jaime Sommers was known for being very easy-going and creatively "thinking outside da box" when it came to her teaching job (for example, she would often have her students arrange their desks in a circle to represent a cell or molecule), so if her pupils gigglingly asked to play a "visual pun" joke on her for April Fools Day to break up da monotany of English class, she'd likely be good-natured enough to allow dem to do so. I can imagine her astonishment, though, when --- after an extended "close you eyes and don't look" period while her mischievous "little rascals" were preparing said uproarious prank for her, she saw dat dey had fully transformed her classroom into a "passed-tents party-sipple" scene, complete wif an entire "community" of surplus-merchandise-level fabric-walled sleeping-structures and toddler-type enclosed drinking-glasses dat da students would all be imbibing water or juice from.
by QuacksO May 19, 2022