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Why a Pony? To be clear, there were no ponies harmed in the making of this blog. The blog’s name, “There Must Be a Pony In Here Somewhere,” comes from an old joke, a favorite of Ronald Reagan’s, that essentially means, with a pile of you-know-what this big, there MUST be a pony—a bright side—in here somewhere!
There Must Be A Pony In Here Somewhere
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‘Green Shoots’ Must Go—Cue the ‘Groundhogs!’
The term “green shoots,” which sprang into the lexicon during the recession of the early 1990s, is back like a weed. Readers agree it must be stomped out.
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AP Green shoots were meant for snacking! A nom nom nom ... |
“Green Shoots right from the get-go made me think of the Chia Pet, or better, the Chia Head — mainly because it's a sprout that is growing out of a hollow base,” one investment banker wrote in. “[T]here's nothing in the base to support it long term,” he explained.
In our highly unscientific poll, 74 percent of the respondents agreed: saying, “Yes, we’re sick of the term!” Just 20 percent voted “No,” they weren’t sick of it, and 5.5 percent weren’t sure of their position on the term.
We turned to readers to come up with a new term to replace “green shoots.”
It should be duly noted that it’s a lot easier to rant about how obnoxious — and factually incorrect — the term is, than to come up with a new term! You want to convey “less bad” news and “glimmers of hope” in the economy without conveying that any actual growth has begun.
(Click here to read my initial rant on green shoots.)
Still, readers wrote in by the dozens, giving it their best shot to come up with a new term and spray weed killer on these pesky "green shoots" for good.
You would not believe the number of No. 2 references. As in [Your synonym for excrement here] Shoots.
I’m not going to indulge much of this bathroom humor, except for Nathan Vasey, who wrote in with “meadow muffins.”
“We could say the market has dropped meadow muffins in hopes of a strong recovery,” Vasey explained.
“I like bamboo roots,” writes Mike Larko, “because bamboo roots grow underground for 3 to 5 years before they start breaking ground and shooting for the sky!”
Stephen in Peoria, Ariz. had a good one: “Hope buds.”
And John Rongner from Wisconsin looked to the sky, offering up: “Breaks in the clouds.”
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
