Mano a womano

Slogging slowly through Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, the inside story of the 2008 presidential campaign, I came upon this statement describing the aftermath of the South Carolina primary, which drove John Edwards out of the race:

". . . what had been a de facto two-horse race since Iowa was now officially mano a womano."

The authors probably know better and are just having fun with words, but the phrase mano a mano creates confusion for some readers. It means "hand to hand," but some people seem to think it means "man to man," hence the mano a womano pun.

Sunk

I heard Jim Lehrer giving the news on NPR today. He said that the South Koreans claimed that the North Koreans sunk a South Korean ship. "Sank," I shouted back at the radio, but he didn't correct himself. Doesn't anyone hire editors anymore?

Cheers!

From time to time on the financial TV shows, I hear folks refer to themselves as "bottoms up" investors. I suppose they mean "bottom up" as contrasted with "top down."

Or perhaps they get their investment advice at the local pub. That could explain a lot.