fortune cookie

( n.)

   [WAITS,  via  Unix;  common] A random quote, item of trivia, joke, or
   maxim  printed  to the user's tty at login time or (less commonly) at
   logout  time. Items from this lexicon have often been used as fortune
   cookies. See {cookie file}.

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {cookie}{cookie file}{Hanlon's Razor}]