Vegetables in the garden grow
In the soil mounds that form each row,
While in the flower bed
Next to the red tool shed
Lay three bad rakes atop a hoe.
This limerick was inspired by an amusing incident on the long-running American television gameshow Jeopardy in late 2004. Contestant Ken Jennings buzzed in on the $200 answer: “The term for a long-handled gardening tool that can also mean a disreputable pleasure-seeker.” Ken answered with, “What is a hoe?” The audience laughed and Alex Trebek told him the correct answer was “rake.”
