Offended by “dead cat bounce?” Do better.

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Earlier today I horrified at least one reader, and probably a few more, by using the Wall Street cliche ‘dead cat bounce’ to describe the very slight increase in home sales from October to November.

I happen to like the phrase because, in addition to summoning the swaggering, seventh grade humor of the trading floor, it is descriptive and easily understood: Is that a sign of life in the housing market? No, it’s just bouncing like a dead cat would after a long fall.

(Don’t knock seventh grade humor. It was funny).

But the aptly named commenter ‘Whatiswrongwithyoupeople’ took offense, writing, ‘What kind of people use terms like ‘dead cat bounce?’ ‘Whatis’ later added, ‘My point was it’s a sickening phrase, Traders use it, and you complain that realtors are scum.’

Point taken. My mother would probably agree. And I do like cats, by the way. So I said to ‘Whatis,’ and say to the rest of you, if you don’t like ‘dead cat bounce,’ let’s see if you can do better. I will happily stop using the phrase provided someone here can provide a substitute that is equal to the task -- it needs to be pithy, short, and descriptive of the cruelly misleading nature of a false bounce off the bottom.

Personally I doubt anyone will do better, but I invite you to try. Feel free to defend ‘dead cat bounce,’ if you like it.
Photo Credit: Pamela, by Coco, submitted to Your Scene at LATimes.com.