The slogan was introduced almost two years ago, but many people are still puzzled by the sign pictured on the left.
What does “greensboro, You’re Welcome” mean?
“You’re welcome” is what people normally say in reply to “Thank you.” When you add “greensboro,” with a small G, even with a heart in the middle, it doesn’t track.
A sign that said, “Welcome to Greensboro” or “Greensboro Welcomes You” would make sense, but the signs have it backwards.
It sounds like the public awareness campaign against bullying that Melania Trump launched when she was first lady, with the slogan, “Be Best.” Melania Trump was criticized for using a slogan that was not grammatically correct. No one seemed to know what happened to the article that should have been in the middle of slogan, “Be the Best” makes sense and “Be Better” does also, but “Be Best” does not, despite what the White House said at the time.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan explained that “greensboro, You’re Welcome” is the tag line created by the Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau, which calls it “branding.” But the real explanation seems to be that the slogan was written by a committee. Vaughan said that the committee worked for months on a new tagline for the Gate City, and this is what the majority of the committee, but not everyone, voted to approve.
The committee turned down a bunch of other taglines, including, “Greensboro, We Make History.” It might not be the best tagline in the world, but it does make sense.
It wouldn’t be difficult to turn the tagline into a phrase that people could understand, “Greensboro, You’re Welcome Here.” People wouldn’t look at that sign and say, “What in the world are they talking about.”
Or even, “Greensboro Welcomes You.”
What the message that “greensboro, You’re Welcome” sends is that in this city, with seven colleges and universities, “we ain’t got Good english.”
How about this tag line: “Greensboro, we’re real nice, but we don’t talk so good.”
But the committee could have saved a lot of work if it had just used the slogan that the infamous Scott Yost suggested years ago: “Greensboro, close to somewhere you’d really like to be.”
Or, “Greensboro, a fine place to visit, a great place to live.”
And how much did that cost us?
Agree … you’re welcome here.
This is hardly a good place to live with all the archaic laws which are designed to help businesses instead of its citizens. “Greensboro: Keep Out” makes sense to me.
Hey John, it’s called ebonics. That’s how English is taught these days. You know, the Greensboro way!
Let me see if I understand: you take away the #1 benefit (leaf pick up) from the people that pay the bulk of the taxes without any input…..or economic sense …….IS THIS HOW GSO SAYS WELCOME???????No thank you.
“Greensboro, you’re welcome” Really? The “you’re welcome part” sounds like a snarky remark someone would make just after they gave an explanation you didn’t request or answered a question that you didn’t ask. The tagline was worked on by committee for “months”? Why am I not surprised? I assume our intrepid council approved this?
I think someone has made one too many visits to the local cannabis store, Or maybe it’s a dais full of someones.
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Given their renaming of Lee Street and High Point Road, you’d have thought they’d have gone with the obvious :
“Greensboro – The Gate City”.
Considering how much taxpayer money is poured into the coliseum every year, the street in front of it should be named Bendover Avenue.
LOL !
That sign is as dumb as the one near Willow Oaks that says “Greensboro Massacre”
Thanks for nothing.
It’s awful. And a lower-case “G?” Painfully incorrect.
Greensboro needs to forget DEI (Die) like the Third World CEO of Greensboro and get good people on the job, not political hacks. Won’t happen with Hightower and Wells. They would throw their constituents under the bus for a fast buck.
Blue City Blues
This shows the level of intelligence of the persons who made this ruling. WE can do better!!!!!!!!!!!!
What bothers me most is the “branding” company billed the City at least $5,000 for that slogan when a kid could have done so much better (I know a cool logo done by a 5-year-old for cookies).
Greensboro and PTI seem to have branding issues because they don’t know who they are or want to be because they don’t understand the people who actually live here.
Yep!
And so long as the airport calls itself PTI, no-one will ever know who were are.
We are Greeensboro – GSO.
GSO… GSO… GSO…