Shovel-ready

Well, maybe I'm warming up to a Word of the Year candidate: shovel-ready. What's different about this word? If Obama succeeds in getting this economic stimulus package through (a real one, as opposed to the funnel-zillions-to-the-super-rich financial bailout), and if it's of the size people are talking about, this could be huge for our country. Hypermiling and all that stuff is cute, but this could have real impact. Besides, it's got a real elemental ring to it.

The word looks like it's not brand new, but over the last week or so, its use seems to be exploding.

And it's even got a relative already, here:

This will directly help Colorado's economy as I know we have many shovel-ready -- and shovel-already-dirty -- projects.