Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: no man's land (used idiomatically: no)
Fortunately this did not stop the women from trying , and Basnett , senior lecturer in Comparative Literature at the University of Warwick , describes in some detail the individual practitioners who set about the task . Fifteen countries were represented by 30 women , each of whom had been invited on the basis of her contribution to theatre in her own country . Their areas of expertise encompassed a wide range : Sandra Salmaso and Cinzia Mascherin from Italy devised a piece called No Man 's Land , described by Mascherin as ' an empty space , without border , beyond quiet ' , based on work done with objects . Recreating women and voice work were other options , addressing questions of women 's voicelessness and silence . The issue of woman as victim as opposed to woman as survivor was tackled head on by Polish director Zofia Kalinska whose work showing women as bearers of demonic energy culminated in the formation of the Magic Circle , which went on in 1988 to tour a collectively devised piece called Nominate Filiae .
Idiom: sure as eggs is eggs (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah . She 'll wait up . Sure as eggs is eggs . As long as she does n't bloody ring us to say oh Susan 's just rung . I 'll clonk her if she does .
Idiom: follow in someone's footsteps (used idiomatically: yes)
Thus in a few years a mere convenience for keyboard players had developed into a widely adopted performing practice which revolutionized musical textures and was to remain in use for two centuries . The extent of the revolution is most strikingly illustrated by comparison of Giovanni Gabrieli 's two settings of ' O Jesu mi dulcissime ' : in his First Book of Sacrae Symphoniae ( 1597 ) and in his Second Book ( posthumously published in 1615 ) . In his First Book Giovanni , like Croce in his Sacrae Cantilene Concertate ( also posthumous , 1610 ) , was following splendidly in his uncle 's footsteps . ( Like Andrea , he and Croce were first and foremost composers for state occasions , although Giovanni could also express intense personal anguish in a smaller work , the six - part ' Timor et tremor ' with its madrigalian symbolism from the literal ' tremor'motive at the beginning to the descending chromatic line of ' non confundar'at the end . ) Already in the ' O magnum mysterium ' of the 1587 volume of Concerti , he had revealed his penchant for festive passages in triple time .
Idiom: buy time (used idiomatically: yes)
Latin American diplomats have been saying privately in Washington that they are appalled at the jingoistic reaction of Americans . A Brazilian said it reminded him of London during the Falklands war . Colombian and other diplomats at the Organisation of American States were furious at the legalistic wranglings the US delegation has been using to buy time at the OAS meetings in Washington . Trying to fight off calls for a ceasefire or resolutions that could be interpreted as critical , the US used its clout with Caribbean nations to block consideration of Nicaragua 's proposal on the grounds that all resolutions should be tabled with 24 hours notice . This would not normally apply to emergency resolutions .
Idiom: out to lunch (used idiomatically: yes)
I was , I now realise , probably the only one on their short list . I met the director and producer for a ‘ working’ lunch in an Italian restaurant in Soho . The producer , a blase+ young woman , toyed with a lettuce leaf and an olive , but on the rare occasions I am asked out to lunch I generally do without breakfast , so I made up for her and discussed the shooting schedule ( you soon pick up the jargon ) with the director . Fortunately I had a tide - table with me which played havoc with the original extravagant plans as they had only three days to shoot the 15 minutes of film they needed . Five minutes footage a day is good going and they use only 1 foot of film out of every 15 feet shot .
Idiom: oil and water (used idiomatically: yes)
Pollution was directly to blame for a decline in life expectancy from 70.4 years in 1964 to 69.3 years in 1990 , Yablokov claimed , adding that in some particularly polluted areas it had fallen to as low as 44 years . Among particularly serious instances of pollution picked out in the report were the following : , Heavy use of pesticides polluting rivers across the crop growing areas of the Russian republic ; , Untreated industrial effluent from the Volga slowly killing off the marine life of the Caspian Sea ; , High levels of dioxin in mothers ' milk in Moscow ; , The continuing consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear accident , rendering much of the countryside of the Ukraine and Belorussia uncultivatable ; , Waste from aluminium factories in Uzbekistan , poisoning the land for miles around . Yablokov also warned of potential long term disasters caused by ruptures of oil and water pipelines . Underground flooding was threatening to undermine Moscow , while inadequate storage of radioactive waste could lead to a catastrophe exceeding the scale of Chernobyl if it leaked into the Caspian Sea . Russia 's environmental legislation needed urgent overhaul , concluded Yablokov .
Idiom: on paper (used idiomatically: yes)
No one knew it then , but the first shadows of a terrible war were gathering , hidden by the glory of an Empire that coloured one - fifth of the map of the planet Imperial Red . DAVIE Gregor was a ' masher ' . His thin , aristocratic face , fixed in a much - practised expression of confident disdain , crowned his gleaming white celluloid collar like a fresh pie on a paper doily . Striped blazer with brass buttons , tennis ' whites ' , blue shoes with white spats , a pair of kid gloves held casually in his left hand , here was young , working - class Glasgow out on a spree . It was la belle age , and elegant ironwork enclosed almost everything , even the stained - glass compartment dividers on the underground train bound for Cessnock and the mysterious ' south side ' .
Idiom: song and dance (used idiomatically: no)
Alfred is a prosperous restaurateur ; Michael a successful playwright . They have not spoken to each other for the past 10 years . As boys , they were generally able to patch up their quarrels with a joky song - and - dance routine ( ' Me and My Shadow ' ) . As young men , they managed to avoid falling out over the tendentious terms of their father 's will . It was art — or rather Michael 's habit of putting the family and its idiosyncrasies straight into his plays — that finally came between them .
Idiom: turn the other cheek (used idiomatically: no)
‘ If you were a Romany you 'd need to get used to such things , Seb . It 's happened many times to all of us . I 've learned to turn the other cheek in a manner that would make Christian proud . It 's the way we have to be if we 're to survive . If there 's any trouble , it is n't the villager who finds himself before the court , but the Romany.’
Idiom: off the wall (used idiomatically: yes)
Anthony Hopkins had our son Harry 's room,’ said Mr Shapland . Because Forster 's tale about two clashing families — the stuffy Wilcoxes and the emancipated Schlegels — is set in Edwardian England the house had to be decorated in period style . The Shaplands ' furniture was moved into a neighbouring barn ; paper stripped off the walls ; a large modern window bricked up ; radiators hidden ; and light fittings taken down . The holly bush went to give the cameras a clearer view . Ten months later , however , the house looks better than when the crew arrived .
Idiom: all and sundry (used idiomatically: yes)
Rio ’s Unsustainable Nonsense NEW ~ YORK – If George ~ Orwell were alive today , he would be irritated , and then shocked , by the cynical way in which every lobby with an axe to grind and money to burn has hitched its wagon to the alluring phrase “ sustainable development . In fact , the United ~ Nations ’ Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable ~ Development is about pet projects of all and sundry – many of them tangential to the major environmental issues , such as climate ~ change , that were the principal legacy of the original Rio ~ Earth ~ Summit . Thus , the International ~ Labor Organization and trade - union lobbies have managed to insert “ Decent Jobs ” into the seven priority areas at the Rio conference . I would love for everyone , everywhere , to have a decent job .
Idiom: put paid to (used idiomatically: yes)
We certainly will , we also launched today our er campaign for two million pounds , our General Election campaign for , for the money that we 're going to need to stand candidates in as many constituencies as possible , so we 're certainly gearing up for it , yes . What was your opinion of of the Conference , did you find it er a useful , a useful er talking shop ? Yes it was , and I think it also er really put paid to the journalists that came along expecting to write our political obituary , because what did come over in all the workshops er and in the main plenary sessions , was that , that local , local parties are doing very well indeed and are getting a very good reception on the doorstep , in fact some other polls on , on er the Green strategy to the environment show that people actually do still trust the Greens far more than any other party . But you 're still unlikely to make an impression at the General Election ? I would disagree with that .
Idiom: in the dock (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ No , I should think it was because of nearly drowning . And anyway , it happens all the time . One 's always in the dock and being questioned , is n't one ? In one 's mind . It 's quite easy to accede to the charge that one 's badly guilty.’
Idiom: in the running (used idiomatically: yes)
The raid was a very specific response to a very specific problem . No - one , though — least of all Kais Al - Kaisy — doubts that relations with Iraq have been stretched to breaking point . One of the rising stars of motor racing has been to meet the men who 've put him and his car back in the running for success . Johnny Herbert has returned to Formula One after a crash that almost ended his career . He says much of his success is down to the backroom boys .
Idiom: go through the motions (used idiomatically: yes)
You forget to eat , and you think it does n't matter , and I ca n't eat when you 're around . But we are trying to be sensible . So we go through the motions of feeding ourselves . One thing about us , before love and ever since — B.L. and A.L.
Idiom: take root (used idiomatically: yes)
Then he wondered if Dalziel had heard , and wished he did n't care . Hurst does n't look as if he 's very delighted to see me , either , thought Dalziel . He had always thought he had no illusions about the artificiality of people 's reactions to him , but some must have taken root unaware . Tender young plants as yet , and all the more vulnerable to sudden blasts of cold . ‘ I 've got that letter,’ he said as jovially as he could manage .
Idiom: take stock (used idiomatically: yes)
' In fact , ' said Helen , ' I 'm not feeling particularly glum about all this . It 's a question more of assessment . Taking stock . ' Edward picked up the bill and examined it . ' Mother 's part in it is one thing .
Idiom: go straight (used idiomatically: yes)
The New - Zealand - born playwright 's attacks on Thatcher and Thatcherism at dinner were audible wherever one sat , and unmistakably virulent . Surkov always had to hold on to his temper . Porter was carrying a large floppy - covered book ; she went straight up to an African writer , N'dosi , showed him the book , held open , and offered him a biro . I saw the book was a popular mail - order catalogue . I was stunned .
Idiom: word of mouth (used idiomatically: yes)
Scooping the cool pool The soaring popularity of Haagen - Dazs in a market once directed only at children is an advertising triumph . KAY BLAIR reports ‘ Its ‘ word of mouth’ share is out of all proportion to its share of what goes into the mouth ' MOMENTS of passion can include ice - cream so long as it is the grown - up variety . Where once ice - cream was seen as suitable scoff to keep the under - tens quiet , the rise of premium products has cast a completely new light on adult indulgence .
Idiom: till the cows come home (used idiomatically: yes)
The really serious financial decisions come when you look at power amp and speaker combinations . To put together a complete Boogie rig comprising the TriAxis ( £ 1325 ) , a 395 stereo power amp ( £ 1420 ) and a pair of half - and - half ( open top , closed bottom ) Boogie cabs ( £ 635 each ) would just break the £ 3,000 barrier . That 's a massive outlay , and you could talk about relative values till the cows come home , but whatever your conclusions on that score , you 'd have to concede that this would be a superb setup , and with the TriAxis at the heart of the system you 'd be pumping out large quantities of excellent sounds … RRP : TriAxis preamp £ 1325.00 THE ILLUSTRATED MAN …
Idiom: bring the house down (used idiomatically: yes)
Lord SAYE Voice over They wo n't be bringing the house down at Saint Mary 's , Broughton , this Christmas … at least , that 's the plan . Storm damage to the spire has prompted the Rector to ask the organist to choose his notes wisely … or as he puts it , Ding Dong Merrily without the Dong . Or indeed the organist .
Idiom: do the honours (used idiomatically: yes)
PROVIDING musical settings for other people 's words has always been a handy option when one 's own muse is temporarily employed elsewhere . Talking Heads ' first foray into African rhythms was a setting of the Dadaist poet Kurt Schwitters 's I Zimbra ; Syd Barrett 's Golden Hair was a James Joyce poem ; and how could we forget An American Prayer , wherein Jim Morrison 's poems were backed by posthumously written Doors music ? And in Dead City Radio and Seven Souls , respectively , tribute specialist Hal Wilner and New York band Material have done the honours for William Burroughs , the counter - culture 's favourite uncle . Burroughs 's influence on left - field rock culture is , of course , incalculable and , like some seedy literary Camelot , Tangier has had a mythical significance to Beat Generation acolytes since he , Jack Kerouac , Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso briefly congregated there in the Fifties , in the vicinity of the great Paul Bowles . Now , Brion Gysin , Burroughs 's fellow denizen of Tangier , is getting his share of the spotlight .
Idiom: hit home (used idiomatically: yes)
One of those who signed was three - year - old Robert Lynch , of Darndale , who is two months younger than Johnathan Ball . His mother , Catherine , said : ‘ The bombing was outrageous and disgraceful . When you have a child of the same age as Jonathan , it really hits home.’ Brendan Stack , a Kerryman working in London , said : ‘ I 'm lost for words to describe an act like the bombing of Warrington.’ He stated that he did not expect any hostility when he returned to London .
Idiom: catch someone's eye (used idiomatically: no)
And he would catch Tessa 's eye and make a humorous grimace , to show what he really thought about bishops . Tessa blushed at the sight . Bob would catch her eye in his turn as he telephoned . But each time he looked quickly away . He was embarrassed , she knew , because she was sitting at old Eddy Moulton 's desk , upon the top of which poor old Eddy had so recently laid down his head and died .
Idiom: in the works (used idiomatically: yes)
Looking at their names , I wondered about their nationality , and the booklets tells us that they are in fact ' of mixed Turkish / Spanish parentage ' and that from the age of about ten their training was as the Paris Conservatoire , the Frankfurt Musikhochschule , under Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and finally at the Juilliard School , New York . This is a good background , and the playing style and ensemble are as secure as it leads us to expect . Theirs is sometimes a robust way with Mozart , but it remains pleasantly flexible both tonally and rhythmically , and in the first work of all ( K19 d ) they show the kind of skill that unfussily makes the natural - sounding best of the conventional material written by a boy of nine on his London visit . I particularly liked the way they 're unafraid to use the sustaining pedal in its Minuet second movement , giving it charm as well as dignity . Slow movements such as the lengthy Andante of K497 are also nicely shaped , with a tonal warmth that never oversteps proper stylistic bounds , and finales dance and bustle pleasantly , too ( try those of K358 or K448 for examples ) .
Idiom: drop a hint (used idiomatically: yes)
You know these Black Irish , they never forgive or forget.’ ‘ I 'll have her to lunch,’ Claudia Hamilton said . ‘ Maybe I can drop a hint or two and put her right , otherwise Maggie will have them both ostracized if she goes round saying that girl 's a Republican . The twenties are n't all that long ago , you know . Thanks for the dance , David .
Idiom: neither here nor there (used idiomatically: yes)
I just wanted to make su certain I was n't hearing your normal voice . Yes . Erm I have been a bit hoarse lately but that 's neither here nor there . Erm Do n't we all get that .
Idiom: one and the same (used idiomatically: yes)
Forty years earlier the promise of town planning was that it could address the urban housing problems of the day , but the principles of environmental regulations were now seen to relate to a quite different set of questions : the problems of regional economic development . The Third report introduced a beguiling relationship : on the one hand , the need to establish new and to expand old industries in the Special Areas , and on the other , the need to control the post-1918 growth of Greater London . At one and the same time advocacy for dispersal from big cities was related to proposals for planned development in the depressed regions . Another role for town planning beckoned ; it took some years for regional economic planning practice to take coherent shape , but the gauntlet of the conceptual challenge had been thrown down . In the future , town planning was not just about scheme preparation for coordinated development , or the rational control of land use , or even spatial strategies for cities ; it was now to be involved in regional economic affairs , though just how had yet to be demonstrated .
Idiom: out of the blue (used idiomatically: yes)
What an evening ! It had begun so well . Then suddenly , right out of the blue , it had gone straight down the drain . She 'd thought Nevil fancied her , but perhaps he did n't ! That would certainly explain why he had n't taken her into the back close , or asked her out .
Idiom: on the game (used idiomatically: yes)
Where successes depends upon each players ability to describe positions in the maze to the other player . The second is a paper and pencil name which requires players to communicate complex instructions about the to follow through the maze . Children from primaries 4 and 6 and secondary 2 will be tested on both games in the first year of the project and then retested a year later to yield a substantial collection of dialogue transports . The investigation of international skills will depend upon analysing of the transcripts and computer simulation of certain features of the dialogues . The analysis will be concerned with co - operative access of the dialogues — now pairs of speakers work together to establish effective description schemes , how they learn to give and follow instructions and now they learn to use appropriate feedback following an ambiguous description or instructions .
Idiom: in someone's pocket (used idiomatically: yes)
He left the toffees on the table , not wanting to have to wait through five minutes of loud chewing between replies . He carried the curved steel tray over to the cage and set it down just out of reach , leaving it in view as he went back for a chair . Hennessy looked up from replacing his pen in his jacket pocket , and called out a warning . Donaldson turned and saw that Bobo had her arm through the bars , prodding at the basin with a straw and rocking it so that it came close to spilling its contents within her reach . Donaldson rescued the bowl and placed it between his feet as he sat down .
Idiom: in the soup (used idiomatically: yes)
USES Culinary fresh leaves sparingly in salads , with strongly flavoured meat , in soup , sausages , in fruit recipes ; an ingredient of Chartreuse liqueur Medicinal fresh leaves , dried flowering tops , for colds , bronchitis , as a gargle for sore throats , to encourage appetite ; to heal bruises , black eyes and swellings .
Idiom: on the back of (used idiomatically: no)
I do n't thrashing at crib ! First to sixty on the back of there . Go on ! Get your cards out .
Idiom: slippery slope (used idiomatically: yes)
I understand him to say that if there is a democratic vote for the status quo , it will be honoured , as will a democratic vote for independence . But if there is a democratic vote for reform , the Secretary of State says that that is to be ignored . The Secretary of State argues that to allow what my Bill proposes would be to place Scotland at the top of a slippery slope , but his attitude has the effect of placing Scotland at the edge of a cliff . If the pages of the national newspapers of Scotland are to be believed , increasing numbers of his own party do not accept his analysis Mr. Bill Walker
Idiom: keep the peace (used idiomatically: yes)
ACTION must be taken to boost the construction industry in the town , Labour candidate Peter Mandelson says . While the percentage of people employed in construction nationally is 6.9pc , the proportion in Hartlepool is significantly higher at 9.2pc . POLICE called to keep the peace on a Teesside estate days after Tyneside 's Meadow Well riots were pelted with bricks and stones , a court heard yesterday . Trouble flared on the Brambles Farm estate in Middlesbrough last September after a youth from the area was arrested . John Hitchen , prosecuting , told Teesside Crown Court police dog handlers on patrol in the estate 's Marshall Avenue had been pelted with missiles .
Idiom: out of line (used idiomatically: yes)
Going back further , there are traditions of oral narrative and of theatre to which the organization of television around interruption and lose attention would be quite familiar . And even for the novel , closure at a single , uninterrupted sitting is the exception rather than the rule . Clearly , it is the concentrated and closed narrative form of the feature film that is out of line , a rupture within a generic tradition of the popular novelistic from which television 's mutations are more continuous . Nor are these simply questions of the formal rules of genre and generic transformation . The importance of Bakhtin 's method lies not simply in the formal identification of a genre or a subgenre or a chronotope , but also in the connection which he establishes between internal generic form and external history .
Idiom: bread and circuses (used idiomatically: yes)
The whole post - war attempt to democratise culture through State subsidy has failed . High culture remains what it was before World War II , the preserve of an educated middle - class minority . Whereas the Third Republic did set out to improve the aesthetic education of these citizens , the modern welfare State offers them the bread and circuses of culture as spectacle and entertainment . Though Fumaroli does not mention Jean Pierre Goude 's staging of the Bicentennial parade on 14 July 1989 , it does seem to illustrate Fumaroli 's thesis to perfection . All of the republican themes of French history were reprocessed as a Hollywood spectacular for tourists .
Idiom: pull someone's leg (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Four of them got together over a couple of decanters of port and I listened to what I could . Fishbane and Fagg seemed simply embarrassed . Chatterton pulled their legs slightly and said they had better be careful not to get on the wrong side of you again and Glastonbury did n't know what the hell anyone was talking about . I think they 're cowed.’ At that moment Mauleverer tottered in and made for the armchair beside the fire .