Mr. Boss, who seems to find nothing outside the realm of possibility, has a ready answer: "I think my odds are great!"

WSJ: And a Chicken in Every Pot

And if Ed Balls, or anyone else, says austerity is to blame and needs to be reversed, the OBR has given him a ready answer to that, too.

BBC: Bad news for Labour in OBR

Mr McGuinness has a ready answer for this - one he used to cheering at a Sinn Fein rally in October 2002 when devolution collapsed amid allegations of IRA spying.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | Profile: Martin McGuinness

Bush loyalists have a ready answer for that charge.

CNN: Who chose George?

When disbelieving persons asked Psalmanazar why he was so fair and light-eyed and different-looking than they expected, he had a ready answer: the upper classes lived underground and were therefore pigmented like him.

FORBES: Swift's Psalmanazar: When 'Titillating' Means More Than 'True'

On whatever occasion I fire off a question about anybody, even far down the rankings, she seems to have a ready answer. (Our database, managed by Mitchel Rand, helps a lot.) Allison, meantime, also specializes in our antipodean 40 wealthiest list.

FORBES: Coming: The Trillionaire Issue

Romario, again, seems to have his answer ready - he is paid by the public now, rather than by a private company.

BBC: Romario: From football rebel to politician