In winning the seventh of his eight gold medals in the Olympic “Water Cube” in Beijing, Michael Phelps recounted his proper choice of taking one final stroke before touching the wall. In taking “a final half stroke” instead of gliding as had his Serbian opponent in an adjacent lane,
Phelps secured first place by a “finger [...]

Charlie Rose on asking an expert on China to describe the host of the Olympic Games and the world’s third largest economy:
“I know you can’t speak with a broad brush…”
That is correct, Charlie. In fact, no one can speak with a “broad brush” which is used for painting, not speaking. The correct verb even for [...]

American International Group (AIG) received $85 billion in U.S. taxpayer supported bailout money. Not soon after, AIG gave a reported half billion dollars including a stay in a luxurious resort to its top executives to keep them employed. An AIG spokesman explained, “It was a meeting to reward and incent independent sales agents.” [...]