Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: pass muster (used idiomatically: yes)
This insistence , however , does not mesh well with an attempted evolutionary account of language , which it is my concern to sketch . It appears unduly insistent on the primacy of certain conceptual connections between cognition and language . Nevertheless , it is easy to underestimate just how complex behaviour has to be before attributions of attitude and meaning pass methodological muster . Davidson rightly enjoins the radical interpreter to be nasty in thinking up as many competing interpretations of observed behaviour as possible . A good example of how nasty one can be is to be had from the chimpanzee language experiments .
Idiom: on the dot (used idiomatically: yes)
She had awakened early , busied herself with her bags and , while she had waited for the taxi repeatedly told herself that men were a species that she would avoid at all costs from here on in . It would have been just her luck if the damned thing had broken down en route , leaving her at the mercy of his unexpected return . But the taxi had showed up on the dot , and she had stepped in , resolutely refusing to look back for one last glance at the house . As soon as she got back to London she phoned Simone in a bout of maudlin self - pity and told her everything that had happened between them and her decision to end the relationship . Misery was always so much more manageable if it was poured into a friend 's sympathetic ear .
Idiom: run the gamut (used idiomatically: yes)
The calm before another storm ? CABARET VOLTAIRE : Plasticity NOWADAYS , CABARET Voltaire are n't drastically trying to open up new vistas . they just run the gamut of electronic dance music — techno , acid , ambient , the trancey bass - driven hypno - grooves — letting themselves be influenced by the most exciting period dance music has seen since ‘ 87 –'88 . ; VARIOUS : Ruby Trax ‘ TUNES FROM pop 's age of innocence,’ writes John Peel , ‘ visited by a charabanc - load of brawling E - generation brats.’
Idiom: face to face (used idiomatically: yes)
This can be related to the concern in Derrida 's work with the politics of feminism and other positions which contest institutional and political appropriation and exclusion . In recent years Levinas has himself articulated more explicitly his account of the relation of the ethical to the political . If there were just two , as in the face - to - face dialogue , then the ethical would preside as the injunction of responsibility for the other . But as soon as there are three , he suggests , then the ethical moves into politics . ' We can never ' , Levinas concedes to Derrida , ' completely escape from the language of ontology and politics ' .
Idiom: under the influence (used idiomatically: no)
The Profitboss is wary of finance people , seeking their support but running miles to avoid their control . He commits to a budget and achieves it . Never will he let a finance executive ( or even his boss under the influence of one ) impose a budget on him . Having committed to a budget , never will he let the finance people tell him how to get there . He knows he ca n't win the race with his hands tied behind his back , or his toes chopped off .
Idiom: make the grade (used idiomatically: yes)
I do n't think I 'll make the grade if I try to play professional baseball .
Idiom: home and dry (used idiomatically: yes)
She gazed at him , waiting . Topstock sighed . ‘ His father,’ he began — and Theodora knew she was home and dry —‘was a regular army officer . He badly wanted an army son . Instead he had Hereward , who was not by any means army .
Idiom: over the top (used idiomatically: yes)
Please leave.’ She was in the kitchen area now , divided from the rest of the downstairs by a row of cupboards that ran out at waist - height halfway across the room . She eyed him over the top . ‘ Where do you keep the coffee?’ ‘ You do n't give up , do you?’ he said bitterly .
Idiom: till the cows come home (used idiomatically: yes)
The closer men get to God the nastier they get : the more judgemental , the more punitive , the more murderous in their determination to have got God right , and everyone else to have got God wrong . The Pope says that since God initially made us multiply , as is obvious from looking around even the famine fields of Ethiopia , we 'd better do as much of it as we can . God needs his nourishment , his daily fix of souls as by the million every day we drop off the perch , and so Bernard and Apricot — renamed Ellen as a condition of marriage — if they 're to do God 's will , must reproduce till the cows come home , though nowadays of course the cows never leave home in the first place , they 're linked up permanently to milking machines . So how can they come home ? In and out , in and out , him into her , after the pub — drunkenness is encouraged in Catholic societies : another incitement to non - thought — bang , bang , whoosh , and bingo , there 's another one .
Idiom: make light of (used idiomatically: yes)
EVERY now and again , just when flower arranging has begun to seem a reasonable way of spending Saturday afternoons , the game produces something which restores the faith . Right now , Aberdeen 's young striker , Eoin Jess , is that something . At McDiarmid Park on Saturday , the 22 year old made light of his excellent midweek showing for Scotland and played some football which was a delight to the eye . On a day when the general debate centred on whether or not games should be held when gales are blowing , Jess ruined a few arguments by going about his business so smoothly he gave the impression that in those areas of the field in which he moved , the wind had been magically stilled . He brings to football a dimension which has n't been present since the days of the great wingers .
Idiom: in the soup (used idiomatically: yes)
It was a shame to wake the boy , but it was twelve hours now since he had eaten . And afterwards he would sleep . The herbs in the soup would ensure that he slept . He set the bowl down , then lifted the boy gently , cradling him in a half - sitting position . As he did so the boy stirred and struggled briefly then relaxed .
Idiom: argue the toss (used idiomatically: yes)
Mm . I think somebody had sort of started pricing them and then somebody else had probably took over and they ended up with the wrong price on but I did n't mind ! Well , you were n't gon na argue the toss ! No . I got a dress in Marks 's this week before last , seven ninety nine reduced from twenty nine ninety
Idiom: catch fire (used idiomatically: yes)
Flore , chairman of E F Mining , of Gatley , Cheshire , which has ceased trading , was also ordered to pay her legal bill £ 840 . Hot date for party firemen A FIRE crew 's Christmas outing turned into a busman 's holiday when their coach caught fire . The crew , from Crook , Co Durham , were off to their annual dance when the bus filled up with smoke . The men ushered their wives and girlfriends to safety and then trudged the last mile to the party .
Idiom: all wet (used idiomatically: yes)
Ooh ! Golly ! Look at the state of the path , it 's all wet mud . Never mind . We ca n't go back again , we 'll have to go this way .
Idiom: follow suit (used idiomatically: no)
Changes in German and US interest rates The German Federal Bank raised its discount rate from 6 to 6.5 per cent on Jan. 31 to combat the risks of inflation and the costs of unification . The following day the US Federal Reserve cut its discount rate to 6 per cent from 6.5 per cent ; other leading banks quickly followed suit , cutting their rate from 9.5 to 9 per cent . INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Idiom: up to here (used idiomatically: yes)
Oh ! Oh ! It 's up to here , is n't it ? You know they Hey , come on !
Idiom: in the loop (used idiomatically: yes)
The Product Loop The relationship between the company and the market place is in the form of a loop as shown in Figure 6.1 . The three main company functions described in Chapter 1 are elements in this loop , sometimes as individuals and sometimes in collaboration . The potential new product may start anywhere in this loop depending on the origin of the proposal . If a new market need is identified the starting point would be at stage 1 .
Idiom: up a tree (used idiomatically: yes)
Not forgetting the cat 's dinner . Even at this early break in the morning , several husbands had lost bets and were to be glimpsed shouting at themselves in silence in corners . And the Postman 's spectacle was covered in greenflies from the vigorous activity up the tree : " No , but I says to him " — " Really , all right " — " Well " — " and " — " Oh , you 've done it " — " Must go down to the " — " Taps , got to get some " went the song to the rhythm of empty beer bottles dropping into the side pocket receptacles of tree - holder number 29 on the dustmen 's route — and the tip - holding pockets for the dustmen were not full or anything cos the ladies had all forgotten their purses , and the paper , folding , crumpled , torn money had long since fluttered down from their knicker - elastic banks . That was why the Postman had so many dogs following him ! Oh , one houseywife had no knickers , but had improvised her skirt between her legs for the benefit of the television cameras .
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: yes)
The thing is I mean if there 's only a handful of you want to go , we can maybe get the mini bus and I could just take ten of you . If you did n't all want to go , you know you do n't have to go , but then I could just take maybe ten or fifteen of you , but how many will be interested in going to the one in the summer in this lovely out - door theatre ? Right , hands down . How many would want to go to one before May before the exam ? Right , and how many would want to go to both ?
Idiom: in no uncertain terms (used idiomatically: yes)
As British economists know only too well , it is easy to turn a blind eye to unwelcome truths of this kind and to indulge for decades in a form of national self - delusion . If the American people , like Naisbitt , can face this situation realistically and without xenophobia in the 1980s , it will be good for the rest of the world as well as the United States . It is also good news that Naisbitt 's consultants are telling top managers in some American firms in no uncertain terms about the importance of participatory democracy . Neither Naisbitt 's shrewdness , however , nor his ear - to - the ground monitoring techniques , can overcome some of the fundamental limitations of his approach . As he has no theoretical framework and no fundamental economic background , he is limited essentially to extrapolation of short - term clusters of newsworthy items , as seen through the eyes of newspaper editors and reporters .
Idiom: go from strength to strength (used idiomatically: yes)
His Grace then presented the prizes . The first prize of £ 3,000 , a case of Laurent - Perrier Champagne , and a diploma , was awarded to Mr John Wilson of Ixworth , Thorpe , Suffolk . He won the award for the regular habitat improvements made on his 1,680 acre property , where he and his keeper alan Smith four years ago gave up rearing pheasants , and built up wild birds , both pheasants and partridges , which have gone from strength to strength . They did this by developing game crops , game spinneys , small woods , and unsprayed or carefully sprayed headlands . The latter have produced wild flowers and butterflies which are of great interest to visitors and school children .
Idiom: add insult to injury (used idiomatically: yes)
Quite simple you might think . So thought I. The first part was okay when we got the squad marching the 50 yards , but I was the only one that did not see that someone had dug a trench in the line of march , and in one step leapt over the trench in perfect style . I dared not even glance at " Happy " , but to add insult to injury I gave the order " About turn ! " and they repeated the gazelle - like jump even better than the first time . When I think of that occasion and what " Happy " had to say to me ( but not in private ) I blush . But the Gods were once more on my side , I took very kindly to flying instruction , but again I was lucky .
Idiom: on the square (used idiomatically: yes)
Out on the Square all the people began to run , falling flat on their faces , and the izvoshtchiki , standing on the corners , galloped in every direction .
Idiom: take the mickey (used idiomatically: yes)
My mother turned round and said , well you should , you tell her , you should say to her look , I 'm next ! Serve me ! Lucy and your mother comes to take the mickey do n't she ? Yeah well No , well tell it to your mother .
Idiom: in the soup (used idiomatically: yes)
They were flabby and boring . They ended up in soup , as we wasted nothing . Well , a lot of things did — end up in soup , I mean . I still see our long pine table groaning with food , a large oil painting of Nigel 's only respectable ancestor ( ' All the rest were cattle - rustlers,'he said ) , one John Spottiswoode Archbishop of St Andrews , gazing benignly down upon us . I would dispute this claim , saying that no one could be archbishop of a golf course , but Nigel showed me family records to prove his point .
Idiom: sick and tired (used idiomatically: yes)
These ‘ ills’ of industrial society are responsible for much of the illness experienced by its members . In claiming to diagnose and treat this illness doctors can do more harm than good . In Illich 's view , such treatment ‘ is but a device to convince those who are sick and tired of society that it is they who are ill , impotent and in need of repair’ . By claiming exclusive rights to the diagnosis of illness , doctors obscure its real source . By treating the individual rather than the environment , doctors not only do little to prevent illness but also direct attention away from measures which could prove more effective .
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: no)
Launched at Westminster , the Middlesbrough Diocese was represented by Sister Felicity Dobson and Sister Bernadette O'Malley — Diocesan Religious Education Advisers . In his address Bishop Mullins , emphasised the prime role of parents in passing on the faith to their children . He pointed out the importance that the Church has put on education from the earliest times and the duty and responsibility of local bishops to be guides and teachers in handing down the truth of Christ . Speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the Bishops ' Committee for Catechetics , he continued : Witness
Idiom: at the end of the day (used idiomatically: yes)
In Minton 's paintings , Greaves recalled , there were always sudden flashes of green and mauve even in the corners of this burnt - umber coloured room . Ruskin Spear , on the other hand , thought Minton 's decision to paint in the life room a mistake . Though Minton did not begin until the class was all set up and working , the forcefulness of his example meant that at the end of the day there were eight Mintons instead of one . Minton himself saw what was happening and abandoned this practice around 1951 — 2 . Thereafter the difference between his life class and that run by Ruskin Spear was that in Spear 's the students painted naked ladies , in Minton 's , naked men .
Idiom: have a ball (used idiomatically: no)
Subject : Re : Manc of the Day I ca n't believe it either , the BBC has got much over the crimble period all of there coverage is tailored to the scum — in fact the last match featured on MOTD that did n't involve them was us vs Arse . What 's worse is that the commentators are constantly fawning to the scum , the game against us at the pigstye being the prime example , going on the BBC coverage Leeds did n't appear to touch the ball let alone get it out of their own half . As for the Giggs/Kelly incident at the beginning of the game it looked like a perfectly fair challenge after all it 's not as if Girly Pallyster does n't make contact with the person he 's marking ( and that 's in both senses of the word marking ) . You lucky B*****d — we have n't got sky .
Idiom: get the better of (used idiomatically: yes)
That was effectively the end of Liverpool 's challenge , and Spartak confirmed their greater class with a second three minutes from time . Radchenko was the creator , moving into the penalty area before setting up Piatnitski for a simple finish . That only added to Liverpool 's misery , frustration getting the better of Marsh a minute earlier , his clattering challenge on Radchenko deserving of a red card . It summed up a night when the gulf between Liverpool and Europe 's soccer elite was hammered home in emphatic fashion . LIVERPOOL : Hooper , Jones ( Rosenthal 55 minutes ) , Burrows , Nicol , Wright , Hutchison , McManaman , Marsh , Rush , Redknapp , Thomas .
Idiom: light at the end of the tunnel (used idiomatically: yes)
To avoid turning Greece , Portugal , and Spain into collective “ correctional houses , ” Hollande reasoned , people need hope beyond the ever - receding horizon of spending cuts and austerity measures . Even the most rudimentary understanding of psychology supports Hollande ’s assessment . Negative reinforcement and delayed gratification are unlikely to achieve their goals unless there is a perceived light at the end of the tunnel – a future reward for today ’s sacrifices . Public pessimism in southern Europe is largely attributable to the absence of such a reward . As declining consumer confidence and household purchasing power deepen the recession , projections of when the crisis will end are repeatedly pushed back , and those bearing the brunt of austerity are losing hope .
Idiom: on the blink (used idiomatically: yes)
Northumbria police said last night they were questioning a 15-year - old and a man of 25 . Sgt Bill Forth : highly respected by his colleagues Computers put eyes on the blink COMPUTERS can be a blinking nuisance to operators , researchers have discovered . Japanese office workers were found to blink only one - third as often as normal when watching their computers , according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine .
Idiom: come of age (used idiomatically: yes)
It is important to be reminded , moreover , that although Darlington Hall was to witness many more events of equal gravity over the fifteen or so years that followed , that conference of March 1923 was the first of them ; one was , one supposes , relatively inexperienced , and inclined to leave little to chance . In fact , I often look back to that conference and , for more than one reason , regard it as a turning point in my life . For one thing , I suppose I do regard it as the moment in my career when I truly came of age as a butler . That is not to say I consider I became , necessarily , a ‘ great’ butler ; it is hardly for me , in any case , to make judgements of this sort . But should it be that anyone ever wished to posit that I have attained at least a little of that crucial quality of ‘ dignity’ in the course of my career , such a person may wish to be directed towards that conference of March 1923 as representing the moment when I first demonstrated I might have a capacity for such a quality .
Idiom: bits and bobs (used idiomatically: yes)
Cos to me that is wasting money , you know we just , I just buy the essentials . You know what you need for your dinner . I never buy it of fortnightly so I I 'll go to the shop and I 'll say , Right , probably seven tins of beans , seven tins of peas , er you know a few tins a few beans er tins of spaghetti and things like that you know , bits and bobs , but I 'll still get a joint for me Sundays . Yeah . You know for me Sunday dinner .
Idiom: new blood (used idiomatically: yes)
With 800–900 of Switzerland 's 2300 professors due to retire before the end of the decade , the Swiss have taken a leaf out of Britain 's book and set up a scheme for appointing ‘ new blood’ assistant professors at the rate of 300 in each of the next two four - year planning periods . A third of these posts are earmarked for women , and Ursprung is confident that enough suitable candidates will be available to fill them . He sees the new blood scheme as one way to redress the balance against over - represented subjects like particle physics . Another theme of Switzerland 's new science policy is collaboration . Now EFTA has joined the EC to form the European Economic Area , Switzerland is a member of the EC Framework programme , and will be responsible for funding 4 per cent(about SFr100 m pa ) of the four - year Third Framework plan .
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: no)
A small number were textile millworkers , others were miners , fishermen , or seamen , skilled craftsmen , or farmworkers . An even smaller group were professionals , most commonly clergymen . The greatest number , however , were self - employed men who often had some small property to hand down along with the know - how of their trade . The variety of their occupations gives a sense of the remarkably diverse bases for economic independence still open at the beginning of this century . They range from a cotton mill - owner to outwork stockingers and frameknitters , through cornfactors and wholesalers , master builders , shopkeepers and market stallholders , hatmakers , shoemakers , and wheelwrights .
Idiom: on the make (used idiomatically: yes)
First , that he was pushing himself too far too fast , that his appetite was outstripping his ability and his knowledge of the sport . And that was , at least in part , a consequence of another attribute that is highly marked in the man . Put at its baldest , Jackie was a young man on the make . Not so much for fame , but for money . No sooner was he in the sport than he was already scheming to make his first million ; he has never stopped scheming since , to make many more than the first .
Idiom: have an eye for (used idiomatically: yes)
The thought made her anger flare up again . ‘ Of course I do,’ he replied , relaxing and stretching his long legs out in front of him , so that they were within a hair 's breadth of brushing against hers . ‘ In my profession , it pays to have an eye for art . Besides,’ he shrugged , ‘ I collect paintings . It 's my hobby.’
Idiom: make the grade (used idiomatically: yes)
Morris may be a two - time loser . Durham deliver PRE - SEASON thoughts on the prospects of newcomers Durham making the grade were borne out in the early weeks . They were comfortably beaten by Leicestershire on their Championship debut and will plainly find it hard to bowl sides out , but against that they won four of their first five one - day matches and indicated they could be serious contenders for a trophy . The big money has evidently been well spent .
Idiom: out of the woods (used idiomatically: yes)
Oh it is , tiny little snowflakes . I 'm dreaming of a white Christmas He looks really dodgy coming out of the woods like that does n't he ? He does a bit . Oh sorry Lee .
Idiom: feel the pinch (used idiomatically: yes)
It reports a noticeable growth in the sale of long haul holidays , especially to the USA , and in demand for unpackaged travel . SOUTHEND Lipscombe Travel , 22 Queens Road , SS1 1LX ; tel 0702 351111 . The agency 's move into local tour operating has brought in new bookings at a time when agents generally are feeling the pinch of high mortage rates . Ot has introduced short breaks to Paris using scheduled flights from nearby Southend Airport . The company notices strong growth in the sale of short breaks , at the expense of longer package holidays .