Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: lose face (used idiomatically: yes)
Then , in a fit of excess , he ratcheted it up to a full 2 million job losses . Everyone who has examined the issue with any professional respectability thinks that the Secretary of State is simply off his head . Having lost out to the Treasury on training , lost face with the British public by failing to recreate a climate of industrial expansion and lost out politically to his colleagues in Cabinet , he is in need of a political success . He hoped that he would have such a success on the minimum wage . He simply will not achieve it , because the British public share the view of the Labour party that social decency and economic efficiency are assisted by a minimum wage which gives all our people a long - term secure role for them in the labour market .
Idiom: on paper (used idiomatically: yes)
When we used the barrel of the gun , it was to facilitate the end which was the ballot box . ' Earlier , the director of the United Nations Transitional Assistance Group ( Untag ) , Irish - born Mr Cedric Thornberry , described the election as freer than any poll that has been held in West Belfast . Mr Thornberry , who comes from Belfast , expressed two anxieties about the election : first , whether the technical arrangements made for the election would proceed smoothly ; second , whether the use of symbols on ballot papers to enable illiterate voters to identify the party of their choice would work satisfactorily . On the first issue , he said : ' We — and the South Africans — are stretched alarmingly … stretched very thin . ' If something did go wrong , if tempers flared and violence broke out , they could be hard put to control it . '
Idiom: drive someone up the wall (used idiomatically: yes)
well she got what she wanted then , whatever it is anyway , she 's keeping him virtually and they got this flat , whatever they 've got , and erm Long wearing tan yeah , they 'll be , and she 's always moaning driving Sue up the wall , why should I keep him blah , blah , blah , blah , doing nothing , we sit and look at each other and Sue said for Christ sake she said you 're twenty years old , not forty , she 'd been bad on and off again , throat , well she had the shoulder , throat er she thought she had , oh the diabetes was one were n't it , diabetes one , they thought she had , thought that she had glandular fever but she has n't and er , so Sue said to her well are you looking after yourself and she said yes I am , Sue said well I dunno she never seems to be , cos she 's never been well has she really ? No I mean you have to wonder
Idiom: err on the side of (used idiomatically: yes)
Paine 's Age of Reason is iconoclastic but its central thesis is not reducible to a parody of the Christian faith . A few of its witticisms are unnecessarily provocative and should be censored . Voltaire 's work is , arguably , offensive but one should err on the side of allowing it to be available . The Last Temptation of Christ is disturbing but discerning . It does not suggest that Christ was irredeemably wicked but merely that , in his humanity , he experienced temptation .
Idiom: state of the art (used idiomatically: yes)
The studio division had also grown . As well as the Manor , there was now a mobile studio — the Manor Mobile — and a studio complex in West London , opened in 1978 , called the Townhouse . All boasted the finest state - of - the - art recording equipment — a development largely afforded by having taken advantage of the Government 's 100 per cent tax allowance on any equipment investment . To Branson , paying tax was ' a waste of money ' when you could plough that money back into the company . The music publishing company was also showing a healthy profit , particularly with the coming success of a young Newcastle songwriter , contracted to the company under the name of Gordon Sumner , but better known to the record - buying public as Sting .
Idiom: spit it out (used idiomatically: no)
Moved by love , Nicandra tried . The spinach was in her mouth when a terrible sound came from her throat the gaping croak of nausea . She rolled the liquefying spinach into her cheek she could not spit it out . She could not swallow it . Dada and Aunt Tossie stopped their talk about racing .
Idiom: in bed with (used idiomatically: no)
Page 3 models and rubber fetishists with a slave on the side flickered before our very eyes Screen love : How was it for view ? Anthony Troon spends St Valentine 's Day — or rather weekend — in bed with his television AN INTERNATIONAL conference of sociologists and camp followers once defined love . It is : ‘ the cognitive - affective state characterised by intrusive and obsessive fantasising concerning reciprocity of amorant feeling by the object of the amorance.’
Idiom: in stitches (used idiomatically: yes)
No other comic ever quite managed to match Dawson 's end - of - the - pier style although many tried . It was his dead - pan delivery that turned even the daftest joke into a side - splitter . And his own unique brand of droll self - mockery had his audiences in stitches . Today 's comics are more lean , aggressive characters who rely heavily on sarcasm and politics for their laughs . With Dawson it was his bulk which undoubtedly contributed to his premature death along with his broad , rubber face that became his trademark and made him an ideal pantomime dame in true bawdy music hall tradition .
Idiom: up and running (used idiomatically: yes)
At a symposium held at the Warburg Insitute in March to demonstrate the capabilities of the computerised census to a distinguished array of international scholars there was much enthusiasm , but there were reservations . Gaps were pinpointed which made this potentially excellent tool incomplete and hopes were fervently expressed that , as the funding from the Getty has come to an end , resources can be found to keep the system running and continued input assured . Ten years ago it was supposed that when the database was up and running it would be relatively easy to find additional funds from outside to cover the running costs . Now the financial climate is very different . An independent Akademie der Künste where the artists will have to double as sponsors
Idiom: on the carpet (used idiomatically: yes)
Precision and consistency are the keys to success : the half - dozen friers in the long kitchen discreetly tucked behind a panelled wall are obviously highly disciplined . This control is carried through into the dining room , a pleasantly airy space with 280 seats and a no - smoking section that has big windows looking towards Ilkley Moor . It 's as unlike the usual fish - and - chippery as it 's possible to get if you 're buying from Magnet Southern 's : the lad 's even blown his brass on carpets and chandeliers . Cloth - capped queues shiver outside ( there 's no booking ) , but the friendly waitresses in Nippy costume serve the food without pressure — unless the coach is waiting . This is the North 's answer to Disneyland — try a taste of Tykeworld .
Idiom: spot on (used idiomatically: no)
FIRST Penalty OXFORD 'S David Penney was spot - on after 16 minutes with the first successful penalty of the season against Bristol Rovers . FIRST Casualty
Idiom: by the book (used idiomatically: yes)
They are Pamela Murdoch and Barbara Brown . An Alva artist , Liz Allan , has produced new Scottish landscapes for the exhibition and the fifth contributor is the local artist Lynn McGregor . Going by the book to help Tanzania By Nan Spowart AN Ayrshire schoolboy 's shock at conditions in an East African secondary school has sparked off a remarkable effort to help the pupils .
Idiom: in the long run (used idiomatically: yes)
All species within a given adaptive zone compete intensively . A successful adaptive response by one species is assumed to occur at the expense of other species , which must either adapt by themselves speciating or become extinct , as the ‘ quality’ of their environment is reduced . This phenomenon leads to an endless chain of adaptive responses and in the long run means that fitness and rate of extinction remain constant . The high rate of diversification and evolutionary turnover in mammals is thought likely to be the result of a variety of factors , such as strong competitive interactions leading to specialisation in feeding methods , limitations on food supply , high mobility and energy use , interspecific aggression and territoriality . Such factors will conspire to lower the ‘ resource threshold’ needed to prevent extinction , compared with other animals .
Idiom: go hand in hand (used idiomatically: yes)
To read Paul 's letters , we seek his spirit too . We try to listen to the Bible , hearing what God is saying to us through it . Faith and obedience to God go hand in hand with personal involvement in the Bible . Obedient reading of the Bible means that we do not read it selectively , choosing only the passages that reinforce our moods and temperaments . True faith in God means that I distrust myself in order to trust in God .
Idiom: see eye to eye (used idiomatically: yes)
The response to which act was terrible : all the inhabitants of this and other Basque villages nearby , including Sare , As Cain , Espelette and Ainhoa , were arrested and deported into the Landes . Several thousands went and by the autumn , six months later , when they were allowed to return to their pillaged homes , almost half had died , of disease and malnutrition . Like other frontier peoples , the French Basques have not always seen eye to eye with Paris . Basse - Navarre South from Cambo - les - Bains , between the villages of Louhossoa and Bid array , the province of Labourd graduates into that of Basse - Navarre .
Idiom: jump to conclusions (used idiomatically: yes)
When you are weighing up which lender to go to for your loan , you ignore their differences at your peril . It is all too easy to assume that since they all offer the same types of mortgages there is little to choose between them . Jumping to the conclusion that the biggest must therefore be the best could be a mistake . In fact , there is a wealth of difference between the lenders . And our survey shows up the most important variation — the overall costs to you , the customer .
Idiom: small beer (used idiomatically: yes)
A stream of long , earnest and often hopelessly bureaucratic ideas flowed into the system , all with the same object of getting some cash . One of these was Ben Lowe 's modest proposal to launch a new national newspaper . Compared to the GLC 's plan to make London immune to all - out thermonuclear war by placing signs on lamp posts , it was small beer . Those Right - Ons who had written off the Labour Party for ever now began to chew humble pie , and were drawn to Livingstone 's GLC as though to a magnet . Jobs , as well as grants , were on offer , and people whom Lowe had met before started working there .
Idiom: cramp someone's style (used idiomatically: yes)
From day to day the dark shades of his shirts , ties , and high - buttoning suits subtly changed . But the pallid face above them remained impassive , and the waiting cigarette continued to smoke ritually in the ashtray , like a joss - stick before some inscrutable joss . And Morris 's presence continued to cramp Dyson 's style . He was if anything more irritated by the quiet drumming of the electric typewriter than by the clatter of the old mechanical one . It was harder to notice exactly when it stopped , and Dyson liked to know .
Idiom: in the sticks (used idiomatically: yes)
A few minutes ' drive and we were taken into a building . There were no sounds of traffic or neighbours . We must have been right out in the sticks . Inside I was guided down a weird stairway and told at one point to watch my step carefully . Below my blindfold I could see tiles and a toilet set in them .
Idiom: go with the flow (used idiomatically: yes)
She remembered Donna Fratelli 's raucous laugh , the number of times the two of them had sat together over a glass of wine or a plate of pasta , discussing the things which really matter : men , or life , or the latest movie . ‘ In the end,’ Donna used to say , ‘ that 's what it all comes down to . You got ta go with the flow.’ The trouble was , Alexandra thought , walking into her kitchen wrapped in a bath sheet , the trouble was that you could n't really go with the flow until you 'd had time to work out which way it was going . Pointless trying to swim against it , but sometimes it just was n't that easy to see which way the current went .
Idiom: all and sundry (used idiomatically: yes)
At that time there were no instructions laid down for dealing with the radio pirate vessels and , although this particular vessel was outside territorial waters , there was no reason why a cutter should not make reasonable enquiries from vessels in close proximity to our coast . Unfortunately Phil had unwittingly chosen a bad time to clash with the pirate radio vessel . His presence was immediately broadcast in no uncertain terms to all and sundry by the DJ 's who made exaggerated claims that they were being boarded by an unauthorised government vessel . The press picked up the story the following day and gave it wide coverage . All this proved most embarrassing for HMG as talks were in progress with a view to taking possible action against the pirates .
Idiom: rock bottom (used idiomatically: yes)
Will home helps start turning up with a set of clubs ? It could give a whole new meaning to DROP - in centres and old folks ' CLUBS and mean that for once the social workers wo n't be criticised for making a balls - up … or down . Rock bottom : Ex - con strips off in protest at benefit refusal . Threats to murder : Jury hears that prisoner said he 'd kill police informer . And this murderous trade . Tribesmen are slaughtered in the fight for the rainforests .
Idiom: once in a while (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ You never said so at the time,’ she mutters . ‘ And you have no idea how isolated I used to feel . I could have done with a bit of support from you once in a while . And I still could.’ ‘ What about your little acolytes?’
Idiom: tit for tat (used idiomatically: yes)
Of the 15 strategies entered in the tournament , 8 were nice . Significantly , the 8 top - scoring strategies were the very same 8 nice strategies , the 7 nasties trailing well behind . Tit for Tat obtained an average of 504–5 points : 84 per cent of our benchmark of 600 , and a good score . The other nice strategies scored only slightly less , with scores ranging from 83.4 per cent down to 75.6 per cent . There is a big gap between this score and the 66.8 per cent obtained by Graaskamp , the most successful of all the nasty strategies .
Idiom: in light of (used idiomatically: no)
The White House spokesperson , Marlin Fitzwater , had provided an implicit explanation for the delay on Feb. 14 , when he announced that " the entire strategic posture " of the USA was under review . At the end of the 11th round on Aug. 7 , Burt admitted that " no major achievements ' had been made but claimed that there had been " solid progress ' on all issues except those relating to space weapons on which the sides remained " too far apart " . An indication of progress on the subject of SLCMs was provided on July 14 , when the US National Security Adviser , Brent Scowcroft , commented that ( Soviet ) proposals to ban SLCMs altogether ( in the light of perceived verification problems associated with ascertaining their numbers ) were"one of the open areas in the strategic arms negotiations ' ( the USA had formerly wanted to exclude SLCMs from the talks ) . It was also reported that US proposals to conduct reciprocal verification measures prior to the conclusion of START had been accepted in principle by the Soviet Union . The 12th NST round opened on Sept. 28 , 1989 , and ended on Dec. 8 , when Burt and Yuri Nazarkin ( who replaced Alexei Obukhov as the Soviet delegation leader in November 1988 ) held an unprecedented joint press conference at which they reaffirmed the undertaking given at the Malta summit meeting on Dec. 2 - 3 between President Bush of the USA and President Gorbachev of the Soviet Union ( see p. 37111 ) that they would aim to conclude a START treaty by the time of the scheduled Washington summit of June 1990 .
Idiom: in the driving seat (used idiomatically: yes)
Since he took up the position in 1987 , closures of geriatric hospitals , partnership with the private sector , nurse regradings , NHS trusts and a review of maternity and acute services , which will cut over 1,000 hospital beds and possibly lead to a closure of a number of hospitals , are among the controversies which have raged . A former consultant gastroenterologist at Stobhill Hospital Sir Thomas has enjoyed personal popularity . But observers question whether the board 's taciturn general manager , Laurence Peterken , was not the man in the driving seat . ‘ Sir Thomas was just a public relations front . He was a great doctor , a super man but he never stamped his authority on the board,’ said one former colleague .
Idiom: play games (used idiomatically: yes)
Despite their natural animosity , Christians and Moslems learned much from each other . Among the most famous of these cultural exchanges was chess , which was introduced into Spain during the tenth century . This reproduction from a thirteenth century chess manual shows a Christian and a Moslem playing a game . Slaying Orthodox Christians , Jews and Moslems with great impartiality on their way , it took the crusaders two years to reach Jerusalem . There , many promptly claimed lands and titles and chose to remain .
Idiom: spring to mind (used idiomatically: yes)
Mm . That 's not in the north east . I must admit , that 's the one that always springs to mind bu was it Bamber ? Bamber ? Bamber ?
Idiom: in the club (used idiomatically: yes)
' We 've been told by distributors that if our films were French , they 'd have no trouble with them at all . ' We were asking people what we 'd done wrong down there . ' We were told what you needed to do was to start drinking in the Groucho Club , where all the critics go . ' Amber 's Murray Martin is working with other independents on a strategy to counter the problem : ' One of the basic assumptions we have to deal with is that films made in Britain can not either break into the major circuit or survive in the market place , ' he says . ' For some time , independents have argued for intervention on behalf of a British film industry : an initiative based around support for films with low production budgets , which neither copy American styles , nor turn into Euro - puddings .
Idiom: keep the peace (used idiomatically: yes)
This was the Falkland Islands in the distant southern Atlantic , where Callaghan managed to deter , or dissuade , the Argentine military junta from taking naval action in the vicinity of the Falklands or occupying South Georgia . The British vessel , Endurance , an ice - patrol ship reinforced with helicopters and missiles , was kept in Falklands waters despite pressure from the Ministry of Defence . Callaghan not unreasonably claimed in his memoirs that the Tories won the Falklands War but that Labour had kept the peace . On the other hand here was again a problem where a settlement was postponed rather than achieved . Meanwhile , the dispatch of a Foreign Office minister , Ted Rowlands , to Port Stanley to try to persuade the Falklanders of the merits of starting up diplomatic negotiations with the Argentine government , which claimed the islands as their sovereign ‘ Malvinas’ , had an ominous ring to it .
Idiom: all along (used idiomatically: no)
Neumann tells us that ‘ the French minuet … by mid - century … seems to have slowed considerably’ and that ‘ we can find scant references to fast minuets’ , but here is significant evidence that minuets both slow and fast were played in mid-18th - century England . Since there is also other well known evidence collected by Sachs , Kirkpatrick , Zaslaw and others from L'Affilard , Pajot , la Chapelle , Marguet , Quantz , Pasquali , Choquel , Engramelle et al . , indicating that from 1717 to 1775 minuets were danced both fast and slow , anywhere between MM 53 and 80 per bar , is it really likely that it was only during the 1780s that musicians of the time just happened to slow down the minuet , playing only the bottom side of minuet tempos and not the top side then to speed up again afterwards by the 1790s and 1800s ? Is it not more plausible that the minuet was all along danced both fast and slow and everywhere in between , that it was played ‘ faster or slower , according to the tune that is played , which the dancer is obliged to follow’ ? Neumann again oversimplifies matters when he uniformly equates Tempo di Menuetto with Allegretto , or his conception of it , which he claims to mean ‘ relaxed ease’ and to have been ‘ anything but fast’ . Allegretto for Czerny ( and , arguably , Haydn ) seems subject to no such restrictions .
Idiom: down the road (used idiomatically: yes)
Nellie had packed the two children 's bags and left them at the door . He quietly took them to the back of the house before they left . Eventually they got away , but they had got hardly a hundred yards down the road when she suddenly screamed out , ‘ We 've left them.’ ‘ Left what?’ he yelled over the noise of the engine and the wind . ‘ The bags .
Idiom: on the side of the angels (used idiomatically: yes)
An elaborate framework of twisted osiers , the Wheel was nine feet in diameter with the proportions of a water - wheel ; but lit by the lamps and raised aloft as it was , it looked gigantic . The osiers were almost hidden by plaited straw and by interlacing branches of yew and laurel ; coloured streamers attached to the rim hung limply on the still air and within the Wheel , in a bower of straw and foliage , was a life - size figure wearing a grotesque mask and enveloped in a black cloak . Here was the embodiment of evil , the Scapegoat , and with his imminent destruction wickedness would be symbolically cast out and the townspeople would be once more on the side of the angels . They were out in strength , a milling crowd , grouping and regrouping , like ants disturbed . Children who bravely ventured into the darkness soon came scampering back .
Idiom: once in a while (used idiomatically: yes)
Tom 's father comes home once in a while , but he never sticks around for long .
Idiom: give something a miss (used idiomatically: yes)
Arcevia & Acquaviva Picena ' Unspoilt , rural landscapes stretch for miles — just waiting to be explored . ' Marche is for the traveller who wants to turn off the tourist trail , to give the show places a miss , and get to know the green heartland of Italy , the not so self - conscious Italy . Arcevia , overlooking woodlands and hills , is in the midst of these unspoilt rural landscapes with vistas which stretch for miles , just waiting to be explored . Delightful hill towns such as ducal Urbino , miraculous Loreto and the independent little republic of San Marino are all within reach , and coastal resorts such as Senigallia are only 20 miles away .
Idiom: sit on the fence (used idiomatically: no)
One of ours was off as well . couple of nights later , I looked down and here 's three of them , boy , somebody else and another one , and one was sitting on my fence , there , so I banged on the window and said get off the fence ! Erm he just , he just sat there and Mhm .
Idiom: break someone's heart (used idiomatically: no)
But it can not be stressed too strongly that there are places of great strength and potential for growth : they should not be squashed , marginalised and ignored . Instead they should be recognised as a great , hopeful sign for the Church of England . Then plans for re - evangelisation through the planting of churches should be prayed through and published with every effort made to back the movement , rather than break its heart . As churches are planted across the country , the great need is for leaders who can lead a team , impart a vision for this work , and see it come to pass . We now move on to examine the question : who is equal to this task ?