jargon.artrocity.com
New Hacker's Dictionary the Jargon File v 4.4.6
Common term for the curve (resembling an end-to-end section of one of those claw-footed antique bathtubs) that describes the expected failure rate of electronics with time: initially high, dropping to near 0 for most of the system's lifetime, then rising again as it ‘tires out’. See also burn-in period, infant mortality.