Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: by and large (used idiomatically: yes)
A fifth of its members are directors of state enterprises , with a vested interest in blocking change . The governor of the central bank , a friend of parliament , says brazenly that his all - important promise to rein in credit was a trick to show that Mr Yeltsin 's austerity measures were impossible . Parliament , in short , can not be trusted ; and the referendum showed that by and large the people do not trust it . In these circumstances , early elections are essential . Still more important is the implementation of the draft constitution which was published on the eve of the referendum .
Idiom: there's the rub (used idiomatically: yes)
HAMLET : To be , or not to be : that is the question : Whether ‘ tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune , Or to take arms against a sea of troubles , And by opposing end them ? To die : to sleep ; No more ; and , by a sleep to say we end The heartache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to , ‘ tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd . To die , to sleep ; To sleep : perchance to dream : aye , there 's the rub ; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil , Must give us pause . Charles , Prince of Wales : Act 1 , Scene 1 . CHARLES : Well , frankly , the problem as I see it At this moment in time is whether I Should just lie down under all this hassle And let them walk all over me , Or , whether I should just say : ‘ OK , I get the message’ , and do myself in .
Idiom: head over heels (used idiomatically: yes)
The sorrel turned its beautiful head to stare over its shoulder at Kaidu . It snorted , and carefully raised its hind leg and straightened it as if to rid itself of an encumbrance . Kaidu tumbled head over heels . The boys standing in the doorway tittered . The sorrel whickered softly , looking pleased with itself .
Idiom: hold someone's hand (used idiomatically: yes)
She is stronger than any of you . Molly , show them your wrists.’ ‘ No , please , master,’ she begged , trying to pull away , but he held her hand firmly . ‘ Show them , Molly,’ he said , and she held her wrists out to us . ‘ I 've never seen stronger hands than these,’ he said .
Idiom: in the dock (used idiomatically: no)
MARINE geologists at the US Geological Survey are fighting to raise money for a year - long scientific cruise that promises to confirm the potential of spectacular oil and mineral deposits stretching from the Arctic to the South Pacific . Their trip , if it goes ahead , could eventually transform the lazy economies of Tonga and the Solomon Islands , threaten the future of the grey whale , and dramatically increase the world 's known oil supplies . But the research ship , the S.P. Lee , bristling with equipment for mapping the sea floor , faces a year in dry dock unless $ 15 million is raised . The predicament is a result of last year 's reorganisation of the USGS by James Watt , the interior secretary . The funding for the survey 's marine programme was slashed from $ 24 million to $ 13 million a year — money intended for both the Atlantic and the Pacific sections .
Idiom: up in the air (used idiomatically: yes)
Both Marr and Morrissey were instantly involved in fairly advanced post - Morrissey / Marr / Smiths activities . Once again we ask , what of poor old EMI ? EMI A & R boss Nick Gatfield could shed little light on the situation : ‘ It 's all up in the air at the moment , we are not sure what is going to happen . Essentially , we now have two acts for the price of one.’ Now where have we heard that one before ?
Idiom: get on someone's nerves (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ No , I suppose not.’ Why could n't the woman simply say ‘ womb’ , Celia thought . Miss Maynard 's lessons on infant care , however well intentioned , were beginning to get on her nerves . ‘ Harry is my eighty - ninth baby,’ Miss Maynard went on , proudly . ‘ When I leave here my ninetieth will be the son and heir of Lord McClintock .
Idiom: make a splash (used idiomatically: no)
They hoped accommodation for the child care section would be sorted out soon . A NEW BUSINESS BID Helen makes a splash HELEN Tapley is planning a rocky road to success . The 23-year - old who lives at Sychdyn , near Mold , graduated this year from the University College of North Wales with an honours degree in geological oceanography .
Idiom: break even (used idiomatically: no)
Towards the end of field-work a constable newly transferred to the Neighbourhood Unit from one of the sections expressed his difficulties in adjusting to the new round of duties , stating that it was more difficult to pass the time because nothing seemed to happen ( FN 17/12/87 , p. 16 ) : establishing informal contact with the public was not yet itself seen as doing police work and boredom was unappealing . In contrast , by accompanying experienced officers on their beat we saw how seriously they took neighbourhood policing and the range of duties which it comprised : job satisfaction is high among neighbourhood policemen ( Trojamowicz and Banas 1985 ) . Neighbourhood police are supposed to spend as much time as possible per shift walking their beat , even taking tea-breaks at some appropriate place on the round , returning to the station only for their main meal break and when a criminal , such as a shoplifter , is apprehended , although this is rare . There is the inevitable paperwork , but this is much less than for section police although , given the antipathy to paperwork in all police forces , it is surprising how the neighbourhood men welcome it on cold , wintry mornings . Other stalling techniques are also deployed to detain them in the station on such days ( prolonging station business , extended conversations in parts of the station where they are less visible to management , carrying messages , and so on ) .
Idiom: hard as nails (used idiomatically: yes)
I was just thinking how this feels incredibly … atmospheric , ' she heard herself admitting reluctantly , waving an arm to encompass the satiny darkness of the sea all around them , ' I was thinking of the ghosts of all those Spanish galleons which met a sticky end in these very waters , hundreds of years ago, 'she added , with a touch of melodrama which made him laugh out loud . ' Just as I suspected . Under that hard - as - nails , women 's - lib exterior beats the heart of a romantic ? ' She felt her cheeks go warmer in the darkness . Hard as nails ?
Idiom: behind someone's back (used idiomatically: no)
There may be one or two when we might just say well perhaps just a little bit more volume but it 's not perhaps just er slacken off on the pace a little bit . So I do n't think in terms of paralinguistics anybody here has a major problem . But when we come to look at the cluster and the and the audience contact then then you know we may see something a little bit different , Okay but er those are the important aspects things like things like whoops the use of the hands you know several people put their hands in their pockets or put them behind their back or something like that . Now that is you know what do you do with these things I mean they 're a nuisance when it comes to making a presentation . The secret I find and you may over the next day or day and a half to a couple of days you may well see me just do that occasionally I 'll just throw my hands back down to me side .
Idiom: poor as a church mouse (used idiomatically: yes)
She 's fond of him still , in her way , but they quarrelled all those years ago and it 's too late to mend it . He 'll never forgive her for the life she has spent and she wo n't let him see what she 's come to at the end of it ! Poor as a church mouse by her standards , and weak as a kitten ! ' It seemed a sad story to Carrie . She told Nick and said , ' Do n't let 's ever quarrel like that . '
Idiom: only time will tell (used idiomatically: no)
' Quite possibly . Some might wonder , ' he grated , ' whether Blake will now be able to set his prices at a level low enough to undermine Lynx . Only time will tell , wo n't it ? ' She stared at him in shock . ' You 're accusing me of — of spying , of industrial espionage ? '
Idiom: out of the question (used idiomatically: yes)
If this kind of thing strikes you as mildly loopy , do a little further mail order browsing with Pets Pleasure . Dog towels with dog and paw motif ; your cat 's own mouse den , a delightfully snug bed ; a waxed jacket for the dog which has everything ; a plastic holder with carpet insert to encourage your cat to keep its claws off the furniture . I suppose a well - aimed shoe , with or without foot , is out of the question ? Fit - ness instructor A SKIING holiday is for those with more money than sense , giving you the chance to meet a lot of people you could meet at home for nothing .
Idiom: out of the blue (used idiomatically: yes)
Social routes into heroin use The way a person comes into contact with heroin , is offered it , and accepts it , is intimately related to the heroin use of the significant others in that person 's life . That is to say , heroin use does not come ‘ out of the blue’ ; people are initiated into it via social mechanisms that include ideologies as to what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable behaviour . Approximately 65 per cent of the interviewees were introduced to heroin by a close friend or workmate ; 20 per cent , mostly women , by their partner ; 10 per cent by their regular dealer of other drugs ; and 5 per cent by a member of the family . Thus , contrary to the mythology propagated by the ‘ popular’ Press , these user histories point to the fact that , at street level , heroin use is more likely to spread along friendship and family networks ( 90 per cent ) , than via the ‘ evil pusher’(10 per cent ) ( see also Pearson 1987 ) .
Idiom: in the soup (used idiomatically: yes)
To think a few minutes of thoughtless pleasure could end in this . At the end of the summer she was so hungry she had n't the energy to move further than Paddy 's dilapidated chair and she stitched a baby 's gown from her only decent petticoat . Maggie scrounged what food she could , and when Sarah dipped a crust of bread in the cabbage soup she 'd made she could see the cracks in the bottom of the dish through the thin liquid . They were like a map of Europe , and that was where James Halden was enjoying a luxurious , carefree holiday with his wife . Sarah 's daughter was born on the last day of September .
Idiom: in someone's pocket (used idiomatically: yes)
The broom cupboard key - hole did n't let him see anything . He heard muffled conversation but no footsteps . He waited , breathless , heart hammering in the darkness , one hand in his trouser pocket , stroking himself . ' Do you know where the twins were conceived ? ' ' No idea , ' he said , and belched .
Idiom: break the back of (used idiomatically: no)
The first ' special announcements ' about the encirclement and capture of huge numbers of Soviet prisoners and the seizure of Russian war material seemed to support the propaganda line that the superlative German troops would swiftly destroy the inferior Red Army , and that a new Blitzkrieg victory was already in sight . It seemed as if the Führer was right yet again , and that the end of the Russian campaign was only a few weeks away . Hitler himself provided encouragement for such opinion when , in his major speech in the Berlin Sportpalast on 3 October 1941 , he not only defended the invasion of the Soviet Union as a preventive war , pre - empting in the nick of time a planned Bolshevik assault on the Reich , but also gave the impression that the back of the Soviet fighting capability had already been broken . Anyone with ears to hear must have noted Hitler 's words , that ' we had no idea , how gigantic the preparations of this enemy were against Germany and Europe , and how immensely great the danger was , how narrowly we have avoided this time the destruction not only of Germany , but of the whole of Europe ' . But the most significant phrases appeared to denote that Russia was ' already broken ' and would ' never rise again ' .
Idiom: blaze a trail (used idiomatically: yes)
Happy times … But they had finished with Elise 's death , and now Merrill had come back to the Midlands city where she and Elise had grown up before they went their separate ways . Elise had blazed a talented trail to an art college four years before Merrill took up secretarial training . Merrill 's thoughts snapped back to the present . Luke Travis 's idea of three minutes was far from precise , she thought , and she could n't really afford to wait much longer .
Idiom: up in the air (used idiomatically: yes)
not throw it at the cyclist had I ? Better not throw it , wait , if you do up in the air , he 's only got two dimensional vision Henry , he never looks up at anything . You too . But , erm , I told you the story of our cleaning lady .
Idiom: turn heads (used idiomatically: yes)
' We 're almost out of here . ' ' Get off me ! ' she shouted . The operator turned her head , staring glassily at them . All her drones turned too , mimicking her . ' My sister , ' explained Marco , grinning absurdly and hugging Tabitha tight .
Idiom: in someone's pocket (used idiomatically: yes)
LEONCE . My God , put your hands in your pockets , or sit on them !
Idiom: twist someone's arm (used idiomatically: no)
The movements are more or less directed sideways , i.e. écarté or effacé , as in the dances fur Romeo , Mercutio and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet and fur the Tutor in A Month in the Country . 4 Sideways closed ( croisé ) If the character moves sideways with the head , body and arms in some way averted from the front , i.e. croisé , possibly with a twist of the shoulders , he or she is usually playing some evil or cunning person . One of the finest examples used to be de Valois ' dance for the Three Comforters in Job . Their twisted cunning movements were vividly contrasted with those she created for Elihu , the personification of Youth and Truth .
Idiom: pull strings (used idiomatically: yes)
' But those other poor souls , whoever they are , we must give them a decent burial . ' There was no way the bodies could be cremated or even interred unless the coroner 's office was satisfied . But after Richie had pulled his strings at the Home Office it was agreed that a little deception could be practised . The vicar would never have agreed to any kind of mock funeral , but he finally yielded to Midge 's plea that some intercession should be made for the souls of the unknown man and woman whose charred corpses lay in the refrigerator at the mortuary . And so it was that a simple service took place at the parish church .
Idiom: cap in hand (used idiomatically: yes)
However , Merrill Lynch is running the risk of suffering a substantial loss if the market price holds on to any substantial premium . On yesterday 's new grey market , the shares rose from an issue price of 585p to 612p . In America , brokers acting as price stabilisers arrange what is known as a ‘ green shoe’— an agreement which allows them to go back , cap in hand , to the issuing company and simply ask for more new shares to cover their position . But Waste Management is a British issue and Merill Lynch does not enjoy such a luxury . ‘ I presume they have not gone too short,’ remarked one dealer .
Idiom: play into someone's hands (used idiomatically: yes)
Unfortunately I underestimated the strength of his support . But I 'm determined not to cut short my visit here . That would just play straight into his hands . It would make the people think I was panicking . And that could lose me support . '
Idiom: go from strength to strength (used idiomatically: yes)
1931 saw the first Old Stopfordians ' Annual Dinner actually to be held in School ( the Association had been renamed , reviving one of the old forms of the name of the town , in 1927 ) . The School Magazine , The Stopfordian , soon celebrated its fifth birthday , thereby enduring longer than its predecessor which had lasted only from 1898 to 1902 . The Dramatic Society founded in 1930 and the School Orchestra ( 1931 ) went from strength to strength , with public performances the success of which invited favourable comparisons with professional groups . During 1934 the Music master , Mr. William Sidebotham , retired after 46 years ' service . His connection with the School went back even further , for he had himself been a pupil , first entering in 1870 when Hamilton was Headmaster .
Idiom: collect dust (used idiomatically: yes)
What they want is , they get on the phone and say that 's no good , send me another one . And we send them the replacement , and they let the broken one sit there . How many times have you supposed to have taken something back or have it repaired or something and it 's sat there , and it 's sat there , and it 's sat there , and it 's sat there and it 's collected du , I 've got things round the house that I 've been working on and that I 've got ta , I 've got ta and it 's collected dust . You know , that 's another project that went sort of slowly the way . Erm , and what I 'm saying is , we do n't address the things that are n't urgent
Idiom: high and low (used idiomatically: yes)
The smaller the SD in relation to the mean , the more scores cluster around the mean with relatively few high or low scores . Alternatively , a high SD indicates that more scores from the sample were substantially higher or lower than the mean . The shape of frequency distributions for sets of scores with relatively high and low SDs is shown in Figure 8.2 . From Figure 8.1 it can be seen that , for all tests with symmetrical distributions of scores ( known technically , and rather confusingly , as ‘ normal distributions’ ) , any score which differs from the mean by two or more standard deviations will be unusual and therefore worthy of further consideration . Appendix : review of commonly used tests of children 's language
Idiom: full tilt (used idiomatically: yes)
Note mainly rollerskaters helping . Neil Danns , 1988 Davie Phillips , mid full tilt backside boneless . 1988 . 1990 FAREWELL TO DISCO DAN - Z 'S
Idiom: off the mark (used idiomatically: yes)
His international career may be over . Top of my list of ‘ possibles’ is Colin Stephens , who had a poor spell last season after Llanelli 's loss against Neath but had recovered by the time of the Schweppes Cup final . This season his form was confirmed , appropriately enough , against Neath at the Gnoll , where he demonstrated his main assets of speed off the mark and eye for an opening . But he must work on his kicking in general , especially where he is trying to find touch . At international level the likes of Gavin Hastings crucify failed touch attempts .
Idiom: break the back of (used idiomatically: yes)
Such is diplomacy , but the message did little to disguise the fact that from the Delors point of view a Labour victory would have been infinitely preferable . Mr Delors finishes his term as European Community Commissioner in December . It would have been nice for him to wind things up by breaking the back of Britain 's opposition to integration . Under Labour he would have got it : full commitment to the social chapter and to political and economic union . But Europe never became an election issue .
Idiom: from the word go (used idiomatically: yes)
Given the complex of factors involved , teachers in this school found it difficult to distinguish the library project per se from the overall development of the library on the one hand and the development of study skills on the other . But however the relationship between these was seen , staff generally agreed that the developments in this aspect of the school 's provision were substantial and were in a direction of which they approved . A representative assessment is that given by the library manager : I would say that one of the biggest advantages was the fact that senior management … from the Head down , from the very word go , were after making it a success … one thing we have got is a greater awareness from a greater number of staff , because they come in here to supervise and help [ and]get involved … but I think the biggest advantage has been the fact that time devoted to … library skills for all the first year … [has]been extended to an hour a week … The fact that the library was actually resurrected from its very sorry state now means that there is a far firmer base in the school for teaching children study skills , how to use libraries , how to retrieve information , how to in fact produce coherent project work as opposed to just copying chunks out of books . The actual study skills part is running in tandem with the library Project , and we are beginning to see already … , in the third year for example[where]they did have library skills [ and it 's apparent from what members of staff are saying]that … in areas where they are expected to research themselves that there has been a big improvement .
Idiom: get stuck in (used idiomatically: yes)
Elf cavalry are so fast that they can cross most battlefields and be in combat in two turns . This brings us to the horns of the Elf dilemma . Half your army wants to hang back and shoot , the other half wants to get stuck in as quickly as possible . My answer is reasonably straightforward . I try to concentrate all my hard - hitting , fast moving units on one flank .
Idiom: once in a while (used idiomatically: yes)
I ne I I er Go on ! It 's alright once in a while , but I ca n't see what people see about being addicts and always towing one , it 's No . Do you remember going down th the
Idiom: by leaps and bounds (used idiomatically: yes)
The recent high - speed rail debacle is a case in point . In 2003 , China built its first high - speed - rail project . As a key component of the RMB4~trillion ( $ 630~billion ) stimulus package introduced during the 2008 - 2009 global financial crisis , investment in high - speed - rail construction increased by leaps and bounds . By the end of 2010 , China ’s operational high - speed - rail network surpassed 8,000 kilometers , with an additional 17,000 kilometers under construction . By contrast , all Western countries combined took a half - century to build a total of 6,500 kilometers .
Idiom: bits and bobs (used idiomatically: yes)
What did she sugg how did she , how did she suggest it ? Erm well she said , would you like to go on the computer ? and I said , fine , okay . So she showed me her bits and bobs and things like that . The hardware , the keyboard and things . Yeah .
Idiom: neck and neck (used idiomatically: yes)
' We are taking it gently . It will take a couple of months to get used to it , ' one officer said . Neck and neck for the last hurrah Margaret Hall in Washington ELECTION fever reaches its climax tomorrow — with the White House candidates hurtling almost neck - and - neck towards the finish .
Idiom: foot the bill (used idiomatically: yes)
You mentioned about training Yes . and the lack of training do you not feel that the government should put more money into the company to allow apprenticeship to take place rather than of thinking the company 's got ta foot the bill every time ? Oh he 's got me a on a good band wagon now ! Because the trouble is , I can go back to nineteen sixty four , Industrial Relations Act , which I thought was one of the best things ever bought out , whereby er the erm terms were levied to do so much training .
Idiom: to say the least (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ The ground floor is just flooded out . It is over my ankles and outside in some places it is waist high . We are in quite a mess to say the least.’ She said that patients had been evacuated to an upper floor . ‘ There is not a lot we can do until the rain stops.’
Idiom: walk of life (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Support her back!’ ‘ Do n't cut her hair or it will stop her talking!’ But I was struck by just how proficient at handling babies and young children were people from all walks of life . Mr Lewis , the mechanic , for example , soon managed to quieten my baby daughter Rachel while I was out of the room . Attitudes to family and children vary considerably according to class , however .