Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: in the running (used idiomatically: yes)
Three engineers , Ian Cadden , James Delaney and Edward Haley have recently joined the company to provide plant maintenance during shift operations . Any emergencies can now be dealt with without having to wait until the next day . Other changes of personnel include the appointment of Ann Dickson as Assistant Preparations Manager to assist Tom Blackburn in the efficient running of Axminster and Wilton preparation , and within the same office , Louise Andrew has been appointed to take the place of recently retired Joan Breckenridge , to record production figures . CARPET WEAVER RETIRES After twenty five year 's loyal service , Willie Tait retired at the end of June on his 65th Birthday .
Idiom: in the swim (used idiomatically: yes)
She undressed and climbed stiffly into bed . Only two days left , she thought , as she lay in the dark . Tomorrow she would book another ride ; she would fit in a swim before breakfast , possibly before dinner as well ; and the day after that she would walk — thirty miles would be a reasonable target this time . She fell asleep . It was Saturday and Sara and Rodney had finished packing .
Idiom: pissed off (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah he has . Well , well too old , he 's gon na be fucking That 's what I mean about when he sort of ran off that night I thought , in one way I was pissed off with him but in one way I thought well at least he can you know ? Yeah . Well yeah I mean , I mean the thing is it 's like why have you got those headphones round your neck ?
Idiom: by dint of (used idiomatically: yes)
The other concurrent development was the growing and irrepressible conviction that the inhabitants of India would claim and must sooner or later obtain responsibility for their own government . Fantastic though it may seem , in retrospect , the British proceeded to apply to India the Canadian model , complete with its Burkeian fallacy , that liberty equals empire , and with its federalist corollary . An Indian federation would continue part of a transformed Empire by dint of becoming a self - governed nation . It is doubtful whether a more impressive specimen of mass self - delusion can be produced from any era of recorded history . The final shattering of the delusion did not take place until the 1940s ; but when it did occur , it prompted not the abandonment of the system of the delusion itself but a further and almost incredible elaboration of it .
Idiom: in the bag (used idiomatically: yes)
Open Database Call ( ODBC ) , Data Access Language ( DAL ) and Unix SQL access mechanisms will be supported under Windows , Mac and Unix environments respectively . A subsequent version of Storm will feature data entry mechanisms . OBJECT - ORIENTED 4GL++ , INFORMIX 6.0 RELEASES IN FUTURE GOODY BAG At its Forum 92 European user conference , held on the shores of Lake Como in Italy , Informix also began to talk about near - and mid - term plans for its current 5 . x series products . Releases of Informix 6.0 software will begin next year , the firm said .
Idiom: in the flesh (used idiomatically: yes)
You 're the pebble on the beach with spread Arms and a navel , the fearful passage Past the graveyard , a thorn in the flesh , The psychiatrist who buggered off while listening , Yet in spite of everything somehow managing
Idiom: in black and white (used idiomatically: yes)
After Carrington 's visit the prominent Soviet commentator Alexander Bovin set down two further Soviet objections to the plan . He maintained that ‘ the composition of the conference [ on Afghanistan]arouses doubt since most of the proposed participants are clearly hostile to the present government’ . He also found it unacceptable that ‘ although this has not been set down in black and white , the West is clearly inclined to have the conference discuss the regime existing in Afghanistan , and the character of Soviet - Afghan relations’ . Bovin believed that in place of such a conference ‘ Afghanistan should conduct direct negotiations with its neighbours , above all with Iran and Pakistan’ . Soviet leaders had been prepared to consider international arrangements and guarantees only on the external aspects of the Afghan problem .
Idiom: come to mind (used idiomatically: yes)
She also has a grandeur of style that does not preclude tenderness and anxiety as emotions within its expressive range . In the Aida solos we meet with some likely misgivings : there 's quite enough , for instance , of that glottal manner of production ( cf . Caballé , and from the past Johanna Gadski , who rather unexpectedly comes to mind more than once ) , and in ‘ O patria mia’ the high C , the As too , are louder than one would have wished . In La Willy , Adriana Lecouvreur and Tosca , the sheer sound is gorgeous , but the first and third lack emotional intensity . ‘ In questa reggia’ is ( I believe ) a mistake and probably a dangerous one : there is n't ice in the voice , and its glory lies much more within the tessitura of the Forza Leonora than this .
Idiom: pecking order (used idiomatically: yes)
This is a once - in - a - lifetime opportunity.’ Although , like every climber , he wants to get to the summit , Bryan says the team 's success is more important than any individual . ‘ There 's no pecking order , it 's who is in the right place at the right time and who is the strongest,’ he says . ‘ This outfit has been together for almost three years , everyone knows each other , we all get on and there 's no prima donnas etime .’ ‘ My own ambition is to get to the top camp from where we launch the summit bid .
Idiom: anything goes (used idiomatically: no)
But owing to the rise of semi - literacy ‘ serious’ hardback novels , and indeed books in general , are nowadays bought on impulse on the design of the jacket alone . A narcissistic concern with visual appearance accords with the best efforts of sales and marketing teams , and the design of any book is a vital factor . Today almost anything goes as long as the right jacket is there to gull the public . Books which , in pre - jacket days , would not have passed any reader are now accepted as long as the ‘ presentation’ is right . Many retailers today rely simply on jacket design and advertising budgets and never bother to read a text at all .
Idiom: talk shop (used idiomatically: yes)
She wished that it did n't now make her think of graveyards . ‘ The post - mortem report is in on Harriet,’ Markby said without warning and without looking at her . ‘ I 'm not meaning to talk shop but I thought you might be interested.’ ‘ I am!’ He did n't answer at once so she prompted impatiently , ‘ Well?’
Idiom: in a rut (used idiomatically: yes)
Growth , of course , can not guarantee that material wealth will be distributed in a just , let alone an equal , manner . Yet it is impossible even to conceive of falling incomes bringing about greater justice in the world . Neither the intensity of these arguments , nor mountains of sophisticated data , can relieve me of the feeling that this debate is stuck in a rut and stunted : stuck , because beyond the notion that growth is a necessary but insufficient condition for reducing poverty , our ideas on the matter have changed little over the years ; stunted , because two vital things are often missing from these arguments . The first missing ingredient is a clear reckoning as to how justice itself is measured , especially the net effects of trade - offs between , say , child labour and starvation . The second missing element concerns the weight to be given to non - material factors when measuring the distribution of material rewards in richer countries as much as in poor ones .
Idiom: every nook and cranny (used idiomatically: yes)
It was there for an hour and forty - five minutes . During that time the passengers had been made to dismount and the car subjected to an exhaustive search . Everything moveable was taken out , every nook and cranny probed . Their documents were taken into the office for checking . They had to go through a long interrogation , and their answers were not found to be satisfactory .
Idiom: break even (used idiomatically: yes)
City : Utd Friendly paying more UNITED Friendly , the insurance group floated last July , is lifting the payment to shareholders 20 p.c . to 12.3p , with an 8.1p final on May 29 , after pushing profits up from £ 18.8 m to £ 20.1 m in 1991 . Lower interest charges saw investment income fall 17 p.c . to £ 8.4 m , but losses on the group 's general branch business were reduced by 25 p.c . to £ 4 m , with a 52 p.c . jump in losses on motor insurance to £ 5 m , offset by an improvement in the property underwriting account from the previous year 's losses to break - even . Life profits also moved strongly ahead , rising 15 p.c . to £ 10.7 m , despite increased spending on the development of the company 's unit linked business . City : Governor slams accounts
Idiom: fit the bill (used idiomatically: yes)
As to the financial interests of the organisation as a collective unit , the choice of legal structure really depends on the extent of the need for external financing . This in turn obviously reflects the scale and level of risk of the venture contemplated . If the only working capital that is required can be provided by the personal capital of the participants , then partnership may well fit the bill . Once there is a perceived need for expansion , involving the provision of security to a lender , the facility of the company to charge its own property may dictate the choice . Management and Accountability
Idiom: stake a claim (used idiomatically: yes)
The lynchpin 's still the rhythm , mind . Since there really is no comparison , let 's make one . The ( ahem ) mirror - smooth coffee - table sheen of the Mondays ' ' Yes Please ' conjures up little but complacency and water - treading : Shaun and co were once kings of the dirty , demonic rhythmscape , now the New FADs have moved in on their old manor and staked whole new claims in the still fertile soil of rock - dance crossover . Techno and grunge might be the merry divorcees these days , having won custody of their constituent parts and gone their very separate ways , but the middle ground is not lost . The forthcoming and immense FADs album ' Body Exit Mind ' will , I predict , clear cross - pollination 's name for good .
Idiom: out of the blue (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Then Lewis Crane asked her to marry him . She said no , of course ; he persisted . For the second time in her life , she says , he had appeared out of the blue as it were and too charge . After she had left England , a few weeks later in Milan , she accepted him . He had to be in Amsterdam next week , he told her , and Rio in November , so they decided to get married in Brussels in the last week of October .
Idiom: moment of truth (used idiomatically: no)
Those who spend pleasant , well - compensated days say with emphasis that they have been ‘ hard at work’ , thereby suppressing the notion that they are a favoured class . They are , of course , allowed to say that they enjoy their work , but it is presumed that such enjoyment is shared by any good worker . In a brief moment of truth , we speak , when sentencing criminals , of years at ‘ hard labour’ . Otherwise we place a common gloss over what is agreeable and what , to a greater or lesser extent , is endured or suffered . From the foregoing comes one of the basic facts of modern economic society : the poor in our economy are needed to do the work that the more fortunate do not do and would find manifestly distasteful , even distressing .
Idiom: take the piss (used idiomatically: yes)
And that nigger bloke comes in who does the ten o'clock news he goes to all these people who live in Essex , we 're very sorry that you have to take up this very abusive language and this sort of shit . And comes on you have to admit though , you are fucking crap , ooh . Taking the piss out of old Arnie . Oh yeah . And his little willie .
Idiom: lay a finger on (used idiomatically: yes)
Sally - Anne also made the mistake of assuming that Rose 's ma was a widow , only for Rose to stare at her , burst out laughing and say , ‘ Ow , there were n't no Mr Bailey , and me dad ‘ opped it long ago and ‘ is name were n't Bailey ; he was only ‘ i m as lived wiv ‘ er.’ ‘ ' Er’ was apparently Rose 's ma , and it seemed likely from Rose 's hints and sniffs that all the children had different dads , which , looking at Ma Bailey , fat , defeated and unlovely , Sally - Anne found difficult to believe . How could any man want to lay a finger on her , never mind father her children ? The youngest of whom , she discovered , was only six weeks old , and was brought from the bedroom in an elderly bassinet to be fed , not mother 's milk , but some patent milk powder made up with the dubious water from the outside tap . It was one thing for Miss Sally - Anne Tunstall , pampered beauty , to contemplate the horrors of poverty from the relative comfort of Vetch Street , but to see it in practice , that was quite another thing .
Idiom: in black and white (used idiomatically: yes)
As all the old , nasty suspicions rose again , she hastily squashed them . ‘ Why does he owe you money?’ she asked . This time she was determined to get it in black and white . Ask , not assume . His expression blank , he stared at her for long moments .
Idiom: hand to mouth (used idiomatically: yes)
This time we were getting a few funny looks from other customers . My mother smiled insincerely at a couple of Burberried biddies smirking from the table across the aisle ; they turned sniffily away . My mother giggled again , hand to mouth , then delved into the meringue . She sat back , munching , face red but eyes twinkling , and with those eyes indicated the two women who 'd been looking at us ; then she raised one finger and pointed first at me , then at her . Her giggle turned into a snort .
Idiom: dead and buried (used idiomatically: yes)
So we decided on a special release pattern — an opening in New York a couple of months before any place else , play - off in small theatres with long engagements , letting word of mouth build an audience.’ There certainly was an audience , and they paid $ 16.3 million to see it in the USA alone . So popular was the film that , a month after its opening , AIP decided to release Madigan 's Millions , two years after it was made , to cash in on Dustin 's name , double - billing it in the USA with Fearless Frank , films both actors rather hoped had been dead and buried . The Oscar nominations Midnight Cowboy received were Best Picture , Best Supporting Actress ( Sylvia Miles ) , Best Director , Best Screenplay adaptation , and both Voight and Dustin for Best Actor , forcing each of them to practise their smiles for the possibility of losing out to the other . In the event , the award went to the veteran midday cowboy John Wayne for his performance in True Grit and/or for never having won an Oscar before .
Idiom: up in the air (used idiomatically: no)
Gets you , the reason why helicopters have n't been able to do loop the loop unless they 've got a lot of height , is because , obviously it pulls you up yeah so if you doing that , doing that keep you up in the air , right , keep doing that you 'll go that way , when the helicopter 's you want to do that way , so obviously like that when its like that it tries and pulls you down , and this is why there was an accident with a Wessex or something or a Sea King a while ago , where three or four people died , cos it just did n't get enough height and as , as it got to the top it just pulled it straight down to the ground , it could n't , it did n't have enough height to clear the circle
Idiom: sour grapes (used idiomatically: yes)
You shorten the body , you increase the length of lifespan , I 'm thinking . ' ' Maybe we should breed men an inch high so as to live a million years . ' ' Sour grapes , Vitali ! You 're prematurely aged . It 's all this warping you do . '
Idiom: give and take (used idiomatically: yes)
Failure to clear up a problem which is or may be legal will usually be fatal , unless the facts admit of only one answer , because it will mean that the jury may not have understood their legal duty . The effect of failure to resolve a factual problem will vary with the circumstances , but their Lordships need not decide how in this case they would have viewed such failure , seen in isolation . The trial judge concluded his supplementary directions with a reference to the need for the members of the jury to ‘ give and take’ in their deliberations , while still adhering scrupulously to their jurors ' oaths . The defendant 's fourth sub - head of complaint was that the judge did this when the jury had been deliberating for only an hour , citing Reg . v. McKenna [ 1960]1 Q.B. 411;Reg . v. Ashley [ 1987]1 W.L.R. 712 and Reg . v. Watson [ 1988]Q.B.
Idiom: on the rocks (used idiomatically: yes)
Rows of large silent birds are perched on the mountain ledges — vultures . Their colours blend with the mountains . Ravens swoop in the gully and gather nervously in black clumps on the altar rock . A white square bundle , tied with rope , sits among the ravens . A small dog struggles up the rock and chases them .
Idiom: get to grips with (used idiomatically: yes)
It does n't necessarily mean that they 're unscrupulous in the way that they get their own way ; they just have very clear ideas and it 's impossible for them to see it any other way.’ After leaving the band , Phillips plunged himself headlong into studying music … ‘ I never could get to grips with classical music at all at school . I think it was because it was too associated with the establishment . I heard a piece by Sibelius and I thought , ‘ This is wonderful — I want to be able to have this skill.’
Idiom: ruffle someone's feathers (used idiomatically: yes)
Why is Turkey shivering ? Is he cold?’ ‘ Goosie Lucy 's dead,’ clucked Chicken Likken , ruffling her feathers miserably . Turkey Lurkie blew his beak loudly and sniffed a few more times . ‘ It was the biggest sheep from the CWPR,’ he explained .
Idiom: for good measure (used idiomatically: yes)
It is used in the majority of microcomputers on sale in Britain . The complaints , filed in San Francisco against NCC Electronics and NEC Home Electronics , allege that the companies infringed Zilog 's patents and copyright . For good measure the Americans also accuse Nippon of unfair competition and violation of trademarks . The Japanese chips in question are the PD780 and the PD780 - 1 . They were both introduced in 1979 and now account for 30 per cent of sales in the US of Z80-type microprocessors .
Idiom: call someone's bluff (used idiomatically: yes)
One of the earliest was Oleg Penkovsky , a lieutenant - colonel in the GRU , who approached MI6 in 1960 with offers of information after having been twice rebuffed by the CIA . A businessman called Greville Wynne was asked to act as a freelance MI6 contact and for the next two years Penkovsky provided an incredible wealth of intimate detail about the Russians ' innermost plans including the period of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis . So perfect was his information that it enabled President Kennedy to call Khrushchev ' s bluff over the Cuban affair . Despite giving Wynne this nonstop array of almost magical material it was not until late 1962 , after the Cuban crisis was over , that both Penkovsky and Wynne were arrested by the KGB . At a four - day show trial in May 1963 Wynne received an eight - year prison sentence but in April 1964 was conveniently exchanged for Konon Molody , or ‘ Gordon Lonsdale’ , the professional KGB spy and member of the Portland spy ring who had been in prison with George Blake .
Idiom: get lost (used idiomatically: yes)
Comments have a mysterious way of getting lost in the vastness of Tatoebastan .
Idiom: wipe someone's eye (used idiomatically: yes)
I came here to try and be clear with you . I could have said anything , made an excuse , but I wanted to be straight and it 's only making things worse.’ Lucy wept , her hand against her face , wiped her eyes as more tears came . Jay so wanted to make it better , but how ? With the awfulness of Lucy crying , still she was furious .
Idiom: round the bend (used idiomatically: yes)
Madeira is not for the faint-hearted . Set 270 miles north of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic , it is a volcanic island bursting with brilliant contrasts : the green of banana plantations , the red of vines , the dazzling blue of the sea . Wild orchids bloom by the roadsides , and round every bend is another breathtaking view . No wonder it 's known as ‘ the garden in the Atlantic ’ . Madeira owes its appearance to its farmers , who have hacked terraces out of the rock .
Idiom: for a song (used idiomatically: yes)
' They do n't make them any more , but it 's a great thing . I found it in a pawn shop and I was n't sure what it was , but I bought it for about 20 dollars . Then for another song we layered and layered an E - Bow . Other tracks like You And Your Friend have harmony guitar , and the track Ride also has a lot of layering , building chords note by note . ' This layering works well enough in the studio , but it can create problems reproducing tracks live , something the band are well aware of .
Idiom: under the table (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Why?’ ‘ Nath - an!’ Ari sang , kicking him under the table . ‘ Oh , so you 've heard about Cabochon 's brother then , have you?’ Zambia asked , with narrow eyes .
Idiom: on and off (used idiomatically: yes)
My mother and I were in the kitchen when I saw him and involuntarily said , ‘ My God , he looks as though he 's … ’ It was too late not to finish the sentence and she already knew what the sentence meant anyway … ‘not long for this world — on his way out — dying’ … words which were impossible to say . Dad had been ill for fourteen years , on and off . The dashing , temperamental , beautifully groomed businessman with the sharp , irreverent wit and the sudden mood changes from light to stormy had disappeared one fateful day when he went into hospital for a routine prostate operation . We will never know what happened during that operation because , like most English people , we suffer from excessive politeness with figures of authority and we do n't question or harass them when their explanations seem superficial .
Idiom: head south (used idiomatically: yes)
Voice over 10 kilos of cannabis resin , the biggest seizure of drugs Gloucestershire Police have ever made . They were seized shortly after 8 p.m. last night when a BMW heading south on the M5 motorway was stopped in a routine police check between Junctions 13 and 14 near Stinchcombe . The officer in charge of the case says it was a highly significant find . This afternoon , 32 year old , Joseph Lloyd from Bristol appeared before South Gloucestershire Magistrates , charged with possession with intent to supply and being concerned in the supply of illegal drugs .
Idiom: same difference (used idiomatically: yes)
For example , one might reasonably take as a starting point the observation that the characteristic occupations of men and of women are distinctly different , as are the kinds of relationships with co - employees associated with them . So also are the general patterns of informal social relationships contracted by men and by women ( see further Milroy 1980 ) . Cheshire ( 1982a ) finds the same differences between male and female adolescents . Yet another avenue of explanation might develop from a comparison of certain properties of the language of care - takers of young children ( who are usually women ) with the language of women generally ( Snow and Ferguson 1979 ; J. Milroy 1985 ) . The point of these observations is not to argue the case for any particular line of explanation , but to emphasize that current approaches in sociolinguistics have not taken us very far in understanding linguistic sex - marking .