Reader's question:  

Mr Ghemawat notes that company bosses lead the pack when it comes to overestimating the extent of globalisation.

Could you explain "lead the pack"?

My comments:

Pack refers to a group of animals hunting together. Usually there's an alpha male, the dominant male, leading each pack. The alpha male is, in human terms, the leader.

Here, company bosses are described as leading the pack, leading the group of people who overestimate the extent of globalization, whatever that means.

Metaphorically speaking of course, but the metaphor is appropriate if you consider corporations as money-thirsty monsters, which they actually are. In which case company bosses would be nothing less than blood-thirsty hounds leading their pack, venturing out to conquer the so-called first, second, third world and beyond, baying for profit.

And more profit.

Leading to, or rather leaving disastrous ecological consequences in their behind.

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Right down the middle

Take my word for it

40-sometimes

Last but not the least

Call it a dog

Pull my leg

Ego bath

Tough call

Rain check

Upper reaches

Off the shoulders

Off and running

Gold dust

Frugality fatigue

Red flag

Foregone conclusion

Call balls and strikes

Stare in the face

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With a grain of salt

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Shove it under the carpet

the sky is the limit

hit it off

get my rib in my heart

With bells on

Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

Zhang Xin（张欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.