Better now, in other words, to buy bank shares in a country that has already gone down the plughole than in one that looks as though it might.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

The CEO and controlling influence has himself been made bankrupt, the firm is very close to losing its Hong Kong share listing and in essence seems to be spiralling the plughole.

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It is slowly leaking down a multidimensional plughole.

ECONOMIST: A matter of gravity

She had to use a toothbrush to scrub where it had mixed with green soap from the dispenser, then caked in mineral crusts around the base of the taps, around the plughole and the overflow.

NEWYORKER: Friendly Fire

Meanwhile, German voters are aghast at the prospect of a second Greek bail-out, which they think would merely tip more money down the plughole of a country that is incapable either of repaying its debts or of reforming itself.

ECONOMIST: The euro crisis

She felt around in the blocked sink with her rubber gloves, poking into the plughole with the toothbrush, pulling at the ends of the fibres caught in the trap, tugging and coaxing until she began to deliver up out of the drain a nasty mass, a thick rope of hair and soap and matted insulation, in a gulp of bad drain smell.

NEWYORKER: Friendly Fire