Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: jam tomorrow (used idiomatically: yes)
Since the latter represents the greater sacrifice it is therefore the relevant cost if the original project is undertaken . The rationale behind the use of the NFV approach in the private sector is accepted by government as being exactly analogous to the public sector . This is because , to quote HM Treasury ( 1984 , p. 14 ) , ‘ jam today is worth jam tomorrow’ because , just as in the private sector , ‘ more weight is given to earlier than to later costs and benefits’ . The contentious issues in the public sector are what is the appropriate discount rate to be used and what account should be taken of costs and benefits which can not be measured directly in money terms . The Value of the Discount Rate
Idiom: open the floodgates (used idiomatically: yes)
HAWICK , SCOTLAND . Minto House is being sold to a Japanese consortium whose intention is to dismantle it and ship it to Japan . Concern is being expressed in British architectural conservation circles that this may open the floodgates for the network of ‘ seek and find’ agents for Japanese buyers to divest Scotland and Wales in particular of many important monuments . The Japanese demand , said one agent , is ‘ insatiable’ , particularly when the price of such buildings is miniscule in comparison with first rank Old Masters and the final visual effect more immediate . This case is not without its tragi - comic precedent .
Idiom: sign on the dotted line (used idiomatically: yes)
Before you go to the expense of a professional survey , though , it is worth making a proper assessment yourself . You should also do this if you are renting ; you are still proposing to enter into a contract with someone . Do not forget that even if you are a potential council or housing association tenant , you have the right to turn down unsuitable property or demand that certain repairs be carried out before you sign on the dotted line . The art of viewing When you view a flat use your eyes , ears and nose .
Idiom: word of mouth (used idiomatically: no)
On days when he was particularly active , other items of news which might have appeared in the ten - minute English language bulletins were squeezed out of those in the Zambian languages . However , the radio did play an important role in the dissemination of certain types of news , and it was clearly more influential than the press . News of major disasters , like the tragedy at Mufulira mine in 1970 , spread rapidly around the country by radio and by word of mouth . Listeners paid attention to , and remembered , those items that seemed significant to them . 1 noticed that they frequently lost interest during bulletins when political activities and speeches were reported or some official announcement was made .
Idiom: close to home (used idiomatically: yes)
There 'd been a frost in the night , but now in the mid - afternoon the sun on our backs was strong and warm . The leaves on the thorn trees were almost open , and when we turned to look back at the distance we 'd climbed , there were clusters of vivid green that trailed down the hillside and encompassed the village like waterweed . There was a time when this entire hillside had been covered in forest but , being closest to home , the trees had been felled one after another for building and firewood . Now the bare earth was pitted and ravaged and , during the monsoon rains , torrents of water swept down the loosened topsoil , carving out gullies and chasms that crumpled occasionally into landslides . It felt , as we struggled up the last , steepest stage of the hillside , that we were swimming in the white light of the sun .
Idiom: few and far between (used idiomatically: yes)
In the middle of the trivia , the stuff that could easily have been 1930 or 1960 , there was information for the gleaning . It was n't by any means a straightforward process . The articles of direct newsworthy interest in her magazine were as few and far between as the flecks of gold in a prospector 's pan . What you had to do was listen for the echo not the report itself . So there would be stray references and allusions in the feature articles to events of great consequence or intrinsic interest of which even the bird - brained wives of the garden suburbs of malai - land were cognisant but not 1 , Adolph Ng , BA ( Hons ) Toronto .
Idiom: rub shoulders (used idiomatically: yes)
It shows a return to ‘ normalcy’ in its ending which is in fact a send - up and suggests an integral flimsiness and instability to reality itself . In Diva much of the shooting highlights the interiors of the domiciles of the two main protagonists , Jules and Borodin . But the reality of Jules 's living quarters turns out already to be a set of images , i.e. a disused garage , in which pop art rubs shoulders with wrecked 1950s autos on the model of those in Nicholas Ray 's Rebel Without a Cause . The contrast of such transgressive , figural films with their mainstream counterparts should also be clear . All figural cinema , or cinema which privileges spectacle over narrative or discourse , operates — as Mulvey suggests — largely on the model of and through the primary process .
Idiom: on the carpet (used idiomatically: yes)
Dunap . Dunap who ? What , right there on the carpet ? Knock knock ! Who 's there ?
Idiom: in someone's pocket (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Pardon?’ as he peered at the smaller hump . ‘ A match!’ He searched in his pocket and gave her a box of England 's Glory . But his eyes were still fixed on the little bed , trying to make out any movement in or upon it . The Guyanese girl struck with a hard , angry scrape and in the flare he saw that there was a child 's head on a bolster at the end of the small hump .
Idiom: get a life (used idiomatically: yes)
And Pete reminded him of , him of the person that he hated and all this ! And I was thinking Shrimpy , you 're stupid ! Get a life ! You sure ! Oh !
Idiom: force someone's hand (used idiomatically: yes)
She longed to get home , to question her mother , but her brain would not let her hang on to these indulgences . She had to face up to the fact that her father meant business , and that once more Ace was going to be put into an impossible position because of her . Somehow she doubted that he 'd now ever believe she was innocent of her father 's plans , and that , if her father was successful in forcing Ace 's hand , she would be the one who would suffer . She could n't help but wonder why fate had insisted that these two powerful men should have insisted on using her to gain their own ends — her father for a return to power and motor racing , Ace for sex , because she now realised he 'd wanted her all along . He 'd just been rather cleverer and more subtle at how he 'd gone about seducing her , even ensuring that she 'd initiate the first moves .
Idiom: spot on (used idiomatically: yes)
Twice as large as the Atlantic and getting on for three times the size of the Indian Ocean , it is bigger than all the land surface of the earth , including Antarctica , and with Africa counted twice . It has the deepest sea known — 36,200 feet , nearly seven miles . Not unexpectedly , perhaps , it contains that spot on the world 's surface that is most distant from land — where the longitude 118 ° 30'W intersects 47 ° 30 'S is an equal 1,560 miles from the nearest coasts of Chile , peter Island in Antarctica and an uninhabited British colonial possession , a member of the Pitcairn group called Ducie Island . Moreover it is , as so vastly important a body of water perhaps should be , the original ocean of the world , the so - called Panthalassa . If one accepts ( and not everyone does : there are some vocal Soviet opponents of the idea ) the theory of continental drift propounded by Alfred Wegener , then the present configuration of the planet derives from the break - up of a single super - continent which he called Pangea , which comprised two lesser continents called Gondwanaland and Laurasia , and a shallow marginal sea named the Tethys .
Idiom: go through the motions (used idiomatically: yes)
As soon as she reached the club , as soon as she was back in the public eye , she would have to switch on the false persona that had carried her through the past week . But for now , alone in the farmhouse , there was no need for pretence . Moving like an automaton , she went through all the motions of washing , dressing and putting on make - up . Frankly she 'd rather have dragged on comfortable old jeans and a sweatshirt , but she knew the children would expect the Aurora Blake they 'd seen on television , and she could n't disappoint them . Her appetite had apparently disappeared through the door with Adam , but she forced herself to eat breakfast , knowing she had a long and probably arduous day to get through .
Idiom: down at heel (used idiomatically: yes)
CS 18 . Slyme , Chevy , down - at - heel nephew of old Martin Chuzzlewit , who sullenly nurses a conviction of his own superior merits and a sense of injury that these are not appreciated and rewarded by society . He uses another shabby character , Tigg , to do his scrounging for him , he himself being ' of too haughty a stomach to work , to beg , to borrow , or steal ; yet mean enough to be worked or borrowed , begged or stolen for , by any catspaw that would serve his turn ; too insolent to lick the hand that fed him in his need , yet cur enough to bite and tear it in the dark ' . Tigg deserts him to start trading in fraud on his own account , and Slyme disappears from the story until he reappears as a police officer ( having taken to working for his living in the hope of shaming his rich uncle ) , to arrest Jonas Chuzzlewit for murder .
Idiom: lay down the law (used idiomatically: yes)
Refrain from finalising important transactions until after Mercury turns to direct motion on the 18th , even though what is offered or suggested around the 4th and 11th appears to fulfil your requirements . This may sound rather ominous but it is simply one of those periods when adverse planetary activity calls for a tighter grip on the purse - strings . Uranus , Neptune and your own ruling planet Saturn all exert positive and reassuring influences from September 24th and only after this date will you be in a position to lay down the law personally , professionally or financially . Aquarius ( 21 January to 19 February ) What took place around the time of the lunar eclipse in Aquarius on August 6th and again on the 18th , when both Venus and Jupiter were eclipsed by the Moon in your opposite sign of Leo , seems to have upset the applecart .
Idiom: foot the bill (used idiomatically: yes)
Accordingly , the amounts spent are staggering . Sadly , Fiji , unable to pay the travel bill , had to pull out of the tournament , while the organisers had to chip in a hefty contribution to secure the presence of the New Zealanders . It seems incomprehensible that the NZRFU could spend thousands of dollars , for example , to bring Russia over for a ‘ vodka and caviar’ tour and yet could not find the pennies needed to foot the bill of their world champion students . In this respect the attitude of both England and Wales , who wholeheartedly support their student representatives , is both wide and commendable . The Scottish Union , despite their early misgivings , eventually agreed to chip in , with Midland Bank , the sponsor of the Scottish students , picking up the rest of the tab .
Idiom: Pyrrhic victory (used idiomatically: yes)
Oh dear . The whole point is in fact that ruddy man at the tax office 's claws have been drawn , and the condition of his back is now between him and members of the chiropractic profession . My only regret is that he did n't turn up at court to watch his Pyrrhic victory . I wish he had . I could have told him that he has been elected an honorary member of the Academy Club drinking school run by Oofy Prosser and Stephen Hargrave , in recognition of his services to literature .
Idiom: act of God (used idiomatically: yes)
If the aeroplane broke up in the air or the engine fell apart then the designers could be at fault ; if navigation aids were not working properly a radio engineer could be responsible , or even the Director of Civil Aviation who failed to provide enough money for the maintenance of the aids . And of course , as we know only too well , it could be the result of a particular action on the part of the pilot . Aircraft accidents are not caused by ‘ acts of God’ . Homo sapiens has chosen to venture into what is for him an unnatural environment and he does so at his peril . He knows , or if he does not know he should find out , the features or conditions of the environment he has chosen to occupy , and he should act accordingly .
Idiom: the grass is always greener (used idiomatically: no)
Right , e g the grass being green . more detail miss out from the story . Miss , the grass has always been green . Let me explain . In that particularly hot climate , it is quite often yellow .
Idiom: keep the peace (used idiomatically: yes)
Men showed vast ingenuity in works of engineering and scholarship . Finubar had expected mud huts and primitive savages . Instead he found mighty walled cities and disciplined armies , capable of subjugating the Orcs and keeping the peace over huge stretches of territory . He saw that the humans were numerous and becoming more so , and that it was only a matter of time before they would eclipse the elder races . In addition he was fascinated by their crude vitality and exuberant culture , their energy and greed .
Idiom: think the world of (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ She sounds a remarkable person.’ Aubrey nodded . ‘ My mother thought the world of her . It was Mother who arranged for her to go to Paris to train in Uncle Félix 's salon . I suppose when we were younger , we all rather took Alice for granted , but looking back , one can see what a strong character she had even then .
Idiom: go through the motions (used idiomatically: yes)
It cuts in opposing directions . Whether we have in mind the student teacher , or the art student in the studio , or the student nurse , practical experience necessarily calls for a degree of personal involvement by the student and to that extent it is desirable . But practice can mean going through the motions just as much as accumulating factual knowledge . Admittedly , not all practical activities are as routine as many laboratory techniques ; they often have a degree of open - endedness built into them , demanding a personal response from the student . Even so , the student can respond in a relatively unthinking or unreflective way .
Idiom: ride high (used idiomatically: yes)
By George Campbell , City Editor THE Chancellor 's strategy for growth received a mixed reaction in the City last night . The City 's top gurus reckon that the new package will certainly set shares alight when the stock market opens this morning but there are doubts as to whether it will continue to keep share prices riding high . All the measures proposed by Mr Lamont to pull the UK out of the slump — particularly on housing , construction , cars and company tax incentives — are bang on target but there is a strong suspicion that the billions he has pumped in may not be quite enough . One dealer summed it up adequately .
Idiom: face to face (used idiomatically: yes)
Next stop is the county ground and West Brum on Saturday . And what with Swindon chasing promotion and Gloucester playing in the cup semi - final we 've got quite a week ahead but the biggest crowd will be on the banks of the River Thames for the boat race . Oxford and Cambridge came face to face for the first time today when the scales were set for the official weigh - in . Cambridge were left high and dry for a time this afternoon as Oxford followed in the footsteps of many a champion boxer and left the opposition waiting at the official weigh - in . When the dark - blues did turn up the fun started but as expected the Cambridge crew were carrying far more weight .
Idiom: sign on the dotted line (used idiomatically: yes)
By Edited by Alex Brummer THE main focus of British angst at the Strasbourg Summit is likely to be the Social Charter . But it is also plain that despite sterling 's depreciation to a rate at which it might be reasonably competitive within the Exchange Rate Mechanism , Mrs Thatcher 's team are no more ready to sign on the dotted line than they were in Madrid this summer . The Strasbourg smokescreen will be different . The Whitehall - propagated view is that the changes in Eastern Europe are so momentous they render European Monetary Union , a common fiscal policy and the charter obsolete .
Idiom: on the same wavelength (used idiomatically: yes)
Anti - colonial nationalists dismissed , or at least subordinated , ' tribalism ' , ' communalism ' or other sectional and regional identities as antinational , and serving the well - known imperialist interests of ' divide and rule ' . Gandhi and Nehru , Mandela and Mugabe , or for that matter the late Zulfikhar Bhutto , who complained about the absence of a sense of Pakistani nationhood , are or were not nationalists in the sense of Landsbergis or Tudjman . They were on exactly the same wavelength as Massim d'Azeglio who said , after Italy had been politically unified : ' We have made Italy , now we have to make Italians ' , that is out of the inhabitants of the peninsula who had all sorts of identities , but not one based on a language they did not speak , and a state that had come into existence over their heads . There was nothing primordial about Italianness , just as there is not about the South Africanness of the ANC . Ethnicity on the other hand , whatever it may be , is not programmatic and even less is it a political concept .
Idiom: keep a straight face (used idiomatically: yes)
The game is simple but works very well . The person chosen puts his face in the frame as if he is a picture and then he has to try not to laugh as the rest tell their best jokes and make the funniest expressions . As soon as the ‘ framed’ person laughs , the next one takes over and tries to keep a straight face . 30 Poor pussy The children sit around the room , while the person who is chosen to start takes a cushion and places it on someone 's lap .
Idiom: in the long run (used idiomatically: yes)
Whether you are designing a kitchen from scratch or updating an old one you must think in terms of priorities , define your most pressing needs , and start from there . Do remember that , contrary to the cynics ' view of built - in obsolescence , most major appliances — refrigerators , stoves , dishwashers and so on— are built to last for years , so , as far as possible , you should keep future changes of circumstances in mind as well as your present needs . If your household is likely to expand in any way it might be cheaper in the long run to buy a larger model than the more modest affair you had thought of first . In any case , it is perfectly possible to buy second - hand or reconditioned models at a fraction of the price of new ones as long as you are prepared to accept the risk that they might eventually develop faults which could prove expensive . Still , they can make good stop - gaps till you can afford new models .
Idiom: run riot (used idiomatically: yes)
We are aware that serial killers and the like are merely expressing themselves , working out their various hang - ups and generally freeing themselves from those inhibitions which might , if suppressed , make them less complete human beings . As one who grew up in the Dark Ages and is , as a result , spiritually stunted and psychologically scarred , I regularly find myself cringing at the sight of moaning footballers and speculating , in a twisted fashion , on how much better they might play if all the energy spent on operating the jaws were to be concentrated on getting on with the game . Much the same line of thinking is prompted by post - goal celebrations , which , unless imagination is beginning to run riot , is increasing in complexity by the week . The impression is that we are fast reaching the stage where the actual scoring of goals will be less important than the manoeuvres which follow . In the match at Manchester , the scorer of one of the Tottenham goals took off on a frenzied high - stepping run , knees and arms pumping like pistons — and he was going backwards .
Idiom: make waves (used idiomatically: yes)
Parks and Gischel say that the crane may have been damaged in the original accident . GPU and Bechtel counter that tests have shown no sign of damage to the crane , and that all procedures were safe . Making waves on the 36 bus NEXT YEAR London will get its first radio - controlled buses . But instead of hearing their controllers , drivers on the 36 bus route could find themselves permanently tuned into Johnny Halliday , or similar Muzak , being pumped out by continental radio stations .
Idiom: on the shelf (used idiomatically: yes)
This price gulf mirrors the problem with organic food : most shoppers are put off buying it because it 's too expensive . Sainsbury , for example , defend the sky - high price of their organic vegetables by saying that they take less percentage profit on them , and that the wholesalers seem to be the ones jacking up the price . But how can courgettes , which are sold by the grower at , say , 25–30p a lb at the most , end up on the shelves at Safeway for £ 1.16 per lb ? Two recent surveys clearly show that many shoppers are willing to pay more for organic food . But how much more ?
Idiom: in hot water (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah . And it 's not soluble , so as soon as the water heats up , it comes out . So you get this in your hot water cylinder , we can get it in boilers , erm you get it in hot water pipes and it happens a lot in in hard water areas , Scale will dissolve in the acid in the bubbles of Twelve point seven . Ah here we are . This kettle , is covered with scale , now look , see Twelve point six is asking you which one of these is causing the problem ?
Idiom: have been around (used idiomatically: no)
Mind you , I think we 've managed to avoid that self - conscious ‘ world beat’ kind of feel , because we did n't do it on purpose — it was all an accident ! ‘ Sara Lee 's been playing with us for a while ; it was Scott Litt ( REM producer)who recommended her , and I love the way she plays bass . I used to take bass for granted , because I did n't really understand it , but having been around Sara I 've got a much deeper appreciation for the way she fits into the rhythm section and comes up with lines that move around underneath the melody . It 's a kind of deceptive simplicity , I guess , and musically she 's right up our alley . ‘ One of the most beautiful things about being in this business is that you get to meet your musical heroes .
Idiom: all wet (used idiomatically: yes)
He sat beside her and held her . She shook in his arms . ‘ I 've made your shirt all wet . Salt water . Does salt water stain?’
Idiom: walk of life (used idiomatically: yes)
Painting seems to be a popular pastime — but is it an appropriate image ? What images might be more accurate or more precise ? Shortage of time is a common complaint in every walk of life , but perhaps it is only a perception . If I really want to do something , I will find the time . Put another way , perhaps the things I do with my time are really what I want to do .
Idiom: take the fifth (used idiomatically: no)
Further examples of musical interpretation There are other ways in which choreographers can be guided by the musical context other than those already cited . When inspired by Tchaikovsky 's Fifth Symphony to create Les Frésages ( 1933 ) , Massine took a theme which proposed that Man would win his struggle against fate if he had Action , Love and Frivolity on his side . The moods and emotions of each were expressed in the first three movements . In the fourth , Man , with the help of the three soloists from the other movements , overcame the bat-like figure representing Fate .