Q: A leading Republican senator maintains that President Obama is violating a campaign promise with his claim that he can bypass whistle-blower protections for executive branch officials who give certain information to Congress.

Could you please explain “whistle-blower”?

This is a term originally from sports. In the games of soccer and basketball, for example, the whistle-blowers are the referees, who use a whistle to govern the game, making sure all play by the rules. If a player fouls another player, for example, the referee “blows the whistle”.

Hence the expression.

Whistle-blower is a term now widely used, not just in sports. In the example above it refers to people in government watch-dog organizations whose jobs are to check and oversee the conduct of bureaucrats, making sure they don’t break any rules. In the event of any misconduct is committed, the whistle-blowers blow the metaphorical whistle – that is, cry foul, which may lead to further investigations and bringing the offenders to book.

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Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He 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.