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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>It could be a transatlantic divide, after all.
if so, it's a recent transferral. here's OED2 (fwiw):
Stock Market (orig. U.S.).
[f. green a. + black)mail; cf. green n. 7d.]
The practice of purchasing enough shares in a firm or trading company to threaten a take-over, thereby forcing the owners to buy them back at a premium in order to retain control of the business. Freq. attrib.
1983 National Law Jrnl. (U.S.) 21 Mar. 23/4 Corporations are scurrying to combat a perceived threat from those professional investors who practice ‘greenmail’—putting pressure on a company to get a buy-out for cash. 1984 Daily Tel. 16 June 17 The Disney settlement is the latest and biggest in a recent spate of ‘greenmail’ deals. 1984 Times 15 Oct. 17/6 Two leading companies in the United States are introducing schemes to help ward off the threat of unwelcome takeover bids or attempts of ‘greenmail’. 1986 N.Y. Times 13 Nov. d1/1 CPC may have revived ‘greenmail’ by moving to get Ronald O. Perelman off its back, some Wall Street players contend.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
I believe I have read that a strategy used to stop greenmail is called a "poison pill". That's a term I love used in this context.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Poison Pill
A strategy used by corporations to discourage the
hostile takeover by another company by making it's
stock less attractive to the acquirer.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 60
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 60 |
No endorsement implied nor should none be inferred
So, Faldage, am I to assume that you own stock in greenmail, but have mixed feelings about its usefulness?
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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It was not long after I was ordained in the Episcopal Church that I learned (from senior priests) the meaning of the term LOLWBH ... which is to say "Little Old Ladies With Blue Hair."
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Father Steve: I still remember the first time I saw blue hair, seventy years ago. My home-room teacher, Miss McGrory, switched from gray to pale blue tint that startled me enough I almost dropped my armload of books. But on her it really did look good. But in the main, Marilyn Monroe was right when she said "Only the young dye good."
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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am I to assume...?
You may assume what you will, my dear tg. I neither confirm nor deny.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear WW: I remember very clearly seeing it attributed to her, but since I can't find it on the Internet, I am beginning to think the attribution may have been a lie.
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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 279
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 279 |
Accorden ta me tedasaurus (2002 edition)
Green mail refers ta the thousands of St Paddy's day cards sent annually around the world.
Accorden ta me dictionary it's a little man from outer space
but me Mammy says that all men are green mails cos they don't know nothin.
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