middelmannetjien.
/ˈmɪd(ə)lˌmanəki/, /ˈmɪd(ə)lˌmanətʃi/, U.S. /ˈmɪd(ə)lˌmænəki/, /ˈmɪd(ə)lˌmænətʃi/, South African English /ˈmɪd(ə)lˌmʌnəki/, /ˈməd(ə)lˌmʌnəki/ South African.
A ridge formed between wheel ruts in an unsurfaced road or farm track; the less worn central part of a track or road, between the lines worn by wheels.
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1934 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 18 Feb. in Dict. S. Afr. Eng. on Hist. Princ. (1996) (at cited word) There is a strong agitation on foot here to keep donkey traffic off the Johannesburg–Lichtenburg road because the wagons cut it up to such an extent that, when cars try to follow in their tracks the axles catch on the ‘middel mannetjie’.
1965 J. Bennett Hawk Alone 207 They were driving too fast along the narrow rutted road with its high sump-scraping middel-mannetjie.
1977 Farmer's Weekly (S. Afr.) 24 Aug. 59 Ground covers are ideal between stepping stones and as ‘middel mannetjie’ for the drive.
1985 Cape Times 20 June It has a high clearance so is easy to drive on roads with high middlemannetjies.
1991 Time (S. Afr.) 29 July 29 Lesotho was better than I expected. Lots of tracks with ‘middelmannetjies’. (The bit in the middle where grass sometimes grows.)
2003 A. Doucakis Let. 4 June (O.E.D. Archive) In carts of this type,..the horses rode along the ruts, not along the middelmannetjie.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1934