Mr Portman seems unembarrassed about coming over as a sobersides with a head for numbers.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

Another spendthrift, Viktor Gerashchenko, the central-bank chief, has also become something of a sobersides.

ECONOMIST: Boris Yeltsin��s dying influence

L. Mencken had a field day portraying the self-righteous sobersides of the prairies (who often drank homemade corn liquor behind the barn at night).

FORBES: California Leavin'