User blog comment:Wass12/Translation help 3/@comment-1313447-20110605191525

"Go for the brass ring" is an American expression that basically translates to "keep your eye on the prize". In times past, people riding carousels could win a free ride if they grabbed and took the brass ring that was hanging on a metal arm on the outside of the ride. This explanation is made even more likely because there is an actual carousel in the Dionysus Park level where the comment is said.

Augustus Sinclair is basically using light sarcasm in his lines about Stanley Poole. That is to say, there was sort of a mystery about the intentions of Poole while giving Subject Delta his task of getting rid of the Little Sisters. But Poole was so obvious and uneasy about the fact that he was hiding motives, that Sinclair said it the mystery was no longer fun because it lost its mysterious appeal from being obvious.