Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: make the grade (used idiomatically: yes)
Then you can work out what to do next . what to do next The first thing to remember is that you have not necessarily lost your place even if you have n't quite made the grades required . It all depends on what the exam results are like nationally , how popular the course is , and whether the admissions tutor was particularly impressed by your application . Ring up and ask , though it 's best to wait a few days until tutors have worked out exactly what position their courses are in .
Idiom: out of the blue (used idiomatically: yes)
Will they understand the point of this question ? It is a very common feature in the first questions drafted by students in schedule designing to ask questions which patently have not been thought about from the respondents ' point of view . The schedule designer must for every be putting himself or herself into the respondents ' shoes and trying to imagine what it would be like to be asked this question by a stranger who just turned up a few minutes ago out of the blue . It is natural for a person who has been working towards a survey for several months to overlook the fact that the respondent has never heard of this wonderful enquiry and may be utterly baffled by it ; but in this lies a great danger of asking poor questions , insufficiently considered from the respondents ' viewpoint . Many examples can be given of the pitfalls of question designing .
Idiom: under the microscope (used idiomatically: yes)
I felt what was happening was we were going not in the direction of addition , but of total change . ‘ I 'm sensitive to my head coach , it 's the toughest job in America , possibly including the President of the United States . You are dealing with the lives of people and under the microscope every day.’ Football : Knighton seeks help to rescue his United deal By FRANK KANE
Idiom: up for grabs (used idiomatically: yes)
The pitch glows the colour of rust . The ball is kicked high and all the potential of these young lives is concentrated on it . As the ball hangs there , moon - white against the wall of cloud , everything in the world seems briefly up for grabs and I am seized by two contradictory feelings : there is so much beauty in the world it is incredible that we are ever miserable ; there is so much shit in the world that it is amazing we are happy even for a moment . For Camus , Oran , the city of La Peste , ‘ capital of boredom besieged by innocence and beauty’ , was the mirror image of Algiers : ‘ a city of dust and stone’ that had ‘ turned its back on the sea’ . After independence 200,000 Europeans fled the city and for some time it appeared to be uninhabited , a city decimated by plague .
Idiom: come to mind (used idiomatically: yes)
I told her I needed to speak to Charlie , and was n't surprised to be left standing on the doorstep while she disappeared back into the house . She returned a few minutes later and somewhat grudgingly led me into a little room at the back . When I left twenty minutes later I felt I had come off with rather the worst of the bargain but another of my father 's aphorisms came to mind : shnorrers no choosers . The following day I signed up for an accountancy course as an ‘ extra option’ . The lessons took place during the evening and then only after I had finished my regular school work for the day .
Idiom: fall on stony ground (used idiomatically: yes)
They were mostly younger women . But there was a very small group who acknowledged that their unspoken anger was so powerful , they used their tears as a revenge , knowing that their husbands hated tears and knowing that weeping they could discomfort them . Their marriages had fallen on stony ground but it seemed to me there was still hope . As long as the tears are coming , energy can be redirected . The balance of power
Idiom: go spare (used idiomatically: yes)
The next bit of business was Carol 's , as she again distracted the old man in the white coat . By the time the witless victim had thought to go back to his cash desk , Melissa had juggled the twins sufficiently to pull her jumper up over her head and was offering a late lunch to Anastasia and Lucifer . The shopkeeper , reasonably enough , went spare and while I could easily imagine what he was saying to Melissa , I would have loved to have heard her side of the argument . She kept her cool and dished out more than her fair share of barefaced cheek , in more senses than one . He waved his arms about a fair bit and then disappeared to the back of the shop to be joined by , I presume , his wife for moral support .
Idiom: take the liberty (used idiomatically: yes)
I go this way . You ca n't , you ca n't put a waste pipe that . Got ta be good , ca n't take liberties . So I 'll have to use those sinks over , those big ones for that . Hm .
Idiom: take the plunge (used idiomatically: no)
Significantly , Falk then wrote , ' And yet today the training of managers is one of the liveliest topics of discussion . ' The recognition of management techniques underlay a new trend of employing external consultants : a parallel in government , closely related to industry , was the advent of Lord Beeching in British Rail . Once the plunge had been taken to call upon outside expertise for a temporary and specific problem , employing outside expertise on a regular basis was not such a great mental jump . The recognition that managers needed training in order to acquire the necessary skills to manage effectively implicitly accepted that such skills could be moved around and injected into businesses when required . This explains why British industry , which had never conceived of employing professional consultants to recruit and select executives and managers , came to terms psychologically with the idea of using headhunters .
Idiom: get off the ground (used idiomatically: yes)
In the case of d ) , this is perhaps a long term strategy which will yield a slow but , hopefully , steady trickle . We have room to be pleased with a ) , c ) , g ) , although there may be ways to tweak them up further . Method b ) home produced mailing lists , which was CPRE 's single most successful recruitment method between January and June 1992 , did not really get off the ground . Perhaps there is a natural reluctance to give addresses to an organisation such as CPRW which intends to write demanding time and money . 3 .
Idiom: go it alone (used idiomatically: yes)
Salaries in commerce and industry are good , but to get a better picture of the sort of pay that you could expect , look through the Law Society 's Gazette and the national press where prospective employers advertise available posts . With few notable exceptions , legal department tend to be small to medium in size and it is not uncommon to find that solicitors work along . However , some companies employ large numbers of legal staff , so there is opportunity both for those who like to go it alone and for those who thrive on team spirit . Training and Preparation After academic study , you have to gain practical experience before you qualify .
Idiom: knock it off (used idiomatically: yes)
oh well I 've got loads of Blu - Tack and that which er I , I stick me er gnome 's head on yesterday with the Blu - Tack , the dog had knocked it off again , so behind and er , and er I know , how much did them cost ya ? One , four , nine
Idiom: get a life (used idiomatically: no)
Clive Strachan 's driving and Tommy is squashed in the back between Grater and Robinson . He 's shaking as he speaks . ' I 've been fucking stupid here , I 'm going to get life . Can you get me fifteen years for manslaughter ? ' ' Tommy , you 've just been cautioned for the murder of … '
Idiom: get stuck in (used idiomatically: yes)
But there are key areas where I feel they have gone wrong . One tell - tale statistic is the lack of bookings this season . I 'm not suggesting players should go around collecting yellow cards , but you must have players who are going to get stuck in for you when the going gets tough . Then we come back to the big man up front . When they play like they did at Blackburn Rovers , it does n't matter who you 've got up front .
Idiom: off the record (used idiomatically: yes)
The typing is held up because my secretary has gone sick . ' ' It 's not your report I 'm bothered about . I want some off - the - record background on Dr Alan Tate . He 's fortyish , a local GP , but according to his plate he 's got a fellowship . He runs a one - man practice and his patients think he 's half - way between a saint and a witch doctor . '
Idiom: take the plunge (used idiomatically: yes)
Microvitec Plc reported a net loss for the year to December 31 of £ 2.1 m , down from a loss last time of £ 2.6 m , on turnover that rose 35.2 % at £ 49.9 m . The pre - tax loss was £ 2.1 m , down from £ 3.8 m last time . GERSTNER TAKES THE PLUNGE Louis Gerstner received a lesson on Friday on just how tough it will be to lead IBM Corp in the midst of its economic woes , as he was showered with difficult questions about his qualifications to lead a computer company , Dow Jones & Co reports : Gerstner was also asked to explain why he left RJR to lead IBM —'I thought this was an extraordinary opportunity , ' he said , and asked if he felt he had completed his job at RJR , Gerstner responded ' I do n't think the job is ever finished as chief of a large company . ' IBM DEUTSCHLAND SERVE UP GLOOM FOR NEW LEADER
Idiom: bottom drawer (used idiomatically: yes)
A lot of the women , young girls for the most part , came overland as I had , packed in steamers and trains like the fish they were to gut . On east coast boats in the 1870s , Lewis hands got a fixed wage of £ 7 to £ 10 for a six - week period with an additional 6d or 1/- for every cran ( basket weight ) fished . The fisher girls were paid pennies for packing the barrels but this was still enough , if they were lucky in health and spirit , to buy bonnets and lace to take back to Lewis at the end of the season for dreamy bottom drawers . Inevitably there was friction between the east and west coast men . The expansion of business and industry in all the main ports and towns of Scotland also brought with it an influx of work - hungry ‘ inlanders’ , as well as islanders , adding even more to the tensions .
Idiom: on the game (used idiomatically: yes)
Subject : More anti BBC … I only watched the first 10mins of the FA cup game yesterday … funny how no mention was made of Pallisters hand ball in the box … or dick head schmeichal pushing Kamara in the face . What was even ' funnier ' was when I went into the car i thought I d switch it to radio 5 , to see how they could manage to report on a different game as usual . Sure enough old Alan green was there , quite obviously watching a different match to that I d been watching just minutes earlier . It made me really sick that I had nt listened to the Liverpool Scum match 2 years ago on the radio — instead of watching it on the box .
Idiom: catch someone's eye (used idiomatically: yes)
' But why are we here ? ' he asked angrily , realising they were entering the area around the great Carmelite monastery . Cranston touched him on the arm and pointed to the far corner , just past the huge gateway . An emaciated fellow with jet black hair , thin lips and large brooding eyes caught the friar 's eye . The man was dressed completely in black , his dark cloak covered with the most fantastic symbols : pentangles , stars , moons , suns , and on his head a pointed hat . He had laid out a great canvas sheet before him , bearing different phials and small bowls .
Idiom: meet someone halfway (used idiomatically: yes)
The suggestion that we should publish the amount paid for each company raises difficult problems of commercial confidentiality . During the process of privatisation it will clearly not be a good idea to publish the amount received for each company , as it could well affect prices in subsequent sales . Mr. Robert Hughes : If the Minister will say that , once all the companies have been sold he will publish the individual price , I at least will be willing to meet him halfway and accept that . Lord James Douglas - Hamilton : I have considered this matter carefully . Publishing the prices once the sales are completed also raises problems of commercial confidentiality because the companies involved may be concerned that the price they paid for a business should not be revealed to their competitors .
Idiom: ruffle someone's feathers (used idiomatically: yes)
Senior has won the Australian Open and Australian PGA title in the past month . PAGE Birdman Reed will not duck the issue David Hopps on the Aylesbury ' Rambo ' who is set to ruffle Northampton 's feathers . THE only Aylesbury Ducks likely to be found at The County Ground tomorrow will be an increasingly celebrated strain decked in green and white hoops . Aylesbury 's footballers have progressed to the second round of the FA Cup — and an away tie at Northampton Town — without a flutter of recognition from the whiter - than - white duck which provides their nickname .
Idiom: at the end of the day (used idiomatically: yes)
In 1988 , I was producing a major women 's conference at the Barbican and we needed a big bank of flowers . Twenty - odd years earlier , I 'd picked up an idea from the marvellously creative Bill Brown who was Director of Billy Graham 's Crusades in 1966–7 . I was his assistant and when he wanted flowers he would send me to the Old Covent Garden at 4.30am to buy hundreds of pots of chrysanthemums which would then be sold off at the end of the day , thus serving a dual purpose as decoration and a means of recouping some of our costs . I realised things might not be the same nowadays so , ten days before the conference , my assistant Joanne and I went down to Covent Garden ( which is now at Nine Elms ) and had a trial run . We discovered that you now need £ 2 to get in and give a week 's notice for 300 pots .
Idiom: on and off (used idiomatically: yes)
As the opposite is also so , the priority is evident but does the vision exist among men who sometimes fail to see beyond the end of their noses ? We all fall down . Club rivalries and Ron Waldron 's Neath - based selection policy made Wales 's tour to Australia last year an unmitigated disaster both on and off the pitch . HASTINGS the Heir Apparent ?
Idiom: jump on the bandwagon (used idiomatically: yes)
Rescue 911 . Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous . Even MTV has jumped on the bandwagon with The Real World , a show that chronicles the lives of seven kids rooming together in a SoHo loft . Programming trends that encourage people to watch rather than live reality might not sound like the healthiest thing for Americans , who on average already waste nine years of their lives — about four hours a day — in front of the tube . The camcorder craze has n't helped this voyeuristic tendency any by putting video cameras into the hands of an estimated 27 million Americans .
Idiom: on board (used idiomatically: yes)
Three workers on board the truck were killed in the accident .
Idiom: life and limb (used idiomatically: yes)
If there is no way of implementing justice for the largest and worst offending corporations then it is surely unjust to pursue with such ruthless and cruel tenacity the majority of those eventually condemned to prison . By all means punish those committing violence against us , but when we fail to punish those practising minor acts of genocide , let us be merciful on those committing comparatively minor acts of violence . If that is too hard to stomach , then the political will should be discovered or constructed so that our government will pursue vigorously and ruthlessly all those , including transnational corporations , who violate laws , particularly those designed to protect our lives and limbs . If the price of achieving justice for offending corporations is a more socialized mode of production , that may be a price worth paying if our lives , limbs , and property are protected from predatory transnational corporations .
Idiom: go places (used idiomatically: yes)
I earn a 5 figure salary and have three houses . If you 've got the ambition , we will show you how . If you 're young , enthusiastic , need to go places fast , and only live once , ring me on … " . In licensed dealing , all the flamboyance was saved for the job . Advertisements for Harvard dealers pointed out demurely that remuneration was no obstacle for the right person .
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: yes)
When I enquired about this test , my worst fears were confirmed . Obviously , in order that the trial should be of any value at all , both materials should be used in the way that will produce the best results . If , for example , you compared real , unground coffee beans with instant coffee by simply pouring boiling water over both , of course the instant would win hands down . In just the same way , you simply ca n't use coir in exactly the same way as you would use peat . It just wo n't work .
Idiom: cut from the same cloth (used idiomatically: yes)
Under certain circumstances , dogs understand that a human who can not see them ( because , for example , she is blindfolded ) is less likely to respond to begging with a tasty treat than a person whose vision is not obscured . Dogs are also more likely to obey a command to leave something desirable alone if their master stays in the room than if he steps out . And yet attempts to view canine smarts as cut from the same cloth as human intelligence gloss over a lot of the details about how dogs and humans operate . Evolution does n’t ever build the same form of intelligence twice – even though similar problems may lead to similar solutions . As most owners of puppies know , it takes time and care for a dog to learn the ways of humans .
Idiom: on the side of the angels (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Then you are for clearing up the mess if we could , you are against— ‘ Dictators and war . I am on the side of the angels — that 's what you wanted to be reassured about?’ ‘ Yes,’ said Flavia . Presently she said , ‘ I know I have n't earned another turn , all the same may I ask you a question , a semi - personal question?’
Idiom: friends in high places (used idiomatically: yes)
He 's twice suffered strokes and is paralysed down one side of his body . Yet at the Enterprise Works has given him a full - time job , making components for local firms . But Tony and his colleagues have friends in high places . Today , the Shadow Social Security Secretary paid a morale - boosting visit . Labour has vowed to keep the Works open if it wins control of the Council at the next election .
Idiom: on edge (used idiomatically: no)
These early days , breathless and exciting — bristling with the vicarious thrill of brute , ugly violence — offer the movie 's finest moments . Henry 's voice - over adds an amusing counterpoint to the visuals but by the time we reach his eventual arrest , on drugs charges , in ' 81 , Scorsese 's frenetic cross - cutting seems to leave the original premise — presumably , the mob 's seductive potency — somewhere in the sidings . Liotta is superb in the central role though Pesci as the mercurial and psychopathic DeVito easily steals the picture , switching moods on a knife - edge in a calculating yet effortless display of control . De Niro , curiously takes a back seat , indeed , content to re - invent Noodles ( Once Upon A Time In America ) with a darker , more sadistic bent . But it 's essentially an ensemble piece .
Idiom: on the knocker (used idiomatically: yes)
Her voice was very ‘ Cotswold’ , her ‘ fs’ became ‘ rs’ . She had , it appeared , been out on the knocker , ‘ like all of you , ladies and gentlemen’ , an activity which seemed to meet with universal approval . To go out on the knocker was party activists ' jargon for canvassing , a thankless task usually carried out at night with the aid of a failing torch and a broken pencil . It was an activity closely related to ‘ knocking up’ . It enabled the committed to track down the less committed , and to identify ‘ the enemy’ .
Idiom: fly the flag (used idiomatically: yes)
Dawa Kyizom , a 20 year - old secondary school student in Lhasa , was taken away from her home by officials of the State Security Department on 26 October 1990 . She was detained because the authorities suspected that she had given a Tibetan nationalist flag to a Buddhist monk from Gyurme monastery . The monk is alleged to have flown the flag from the roof of the monastery . Dawa confessed , at the time of her arrest , to giving the flag to the monk and in late 1990 she reportedly received a three - year term of ‘ re - education through labour’ . Ama Phurbu , a 59 year - old small trader who sells hats in Lhasa , was detained in October 1989 after police found leaflets on Tibetan independence in her home .
Idiom: green light (used idiomatically: yes)
She said that Cameron Toll had always been fully let . The centre has a weekly throughput of 200,000 shoppers and , in 1985 , was named European Shopping Centre of the Year . Watchdog gives green light for gas - fired plants By Frank Frazer CLEARANCE was given yesterday to regional electricity companies in England and Wales to go ahead with plans for gas - fired power plant in a judgment which was seen as a further setback for the coal industry .
Idiom: small print (used idiomatically: yes)
The Government 's first move should be to heed the example set by George Brettel and Tony Wilson and immediately freeze their own salaries and those of all MPs . Copy cowboys FOR too long a number of unscrupulous photocopier firms have persuaded their customers to sign contracts with expensive small print . So far they have got away with their high - pressure selling techniques and the only people who have lost out have been the customers who were faced with massive charges they had neither understood nor anticipated . Now , thanks to TODAY 's campaign against the photocopier cowboys , the Office of Fair Trading is to consider a dossier of complaints against them .
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: no)
And hold her down . And the he could get his hand do you see , round her nose anyway , around her snout . Catching hold of her and she could n't get back do you seem because he had slipped this hand down this stick , got hold of her and he you see , and then I let go of the dog and take the the front feet and we used to drag her out like that you see , from the burrow and put her in a bag . As soon as she was in the sack , it was a sack then , you wo nt get them now . Old fashioned sack .
Idiom: tit for tat (used idiomatically: yes)
let us consider some of them . 1 . The simplest exchanges are unpremeditated and tit - for - tat : children engaged in aggressive play ; adults exchanging drinks around a pub bar in token of temporary trust and friendship ; casual conversation with a stranger on a bus . The reciprocity usually takes the form of direct equivalence : an eye for an eye , a glass of beer for a glass of beer . Narrowly dyadic relationships of this kind show no tendency to proliferate outwards so as to form a wider network , and , since they are usually short - lived , anthropologists have not often given them much attention .
Idiom: run riot (used idiomatically: yes)
A note under the Table of Fees at Dorchester Gaol read : More intelligent inmates of debtors ' prisons needed no such inducement to behave themselves . The shock of the change of circumstances was sufficiently numbing to dampen any inclination to run riot , particularly after the painful build up of events which led to the final arrest . The artist Benjamin Haydon was already £ 600 in debt when he heard that the Royal Academy would not after all be buying his painting Macbeth for 500 guineas . He had been selling his books and clothing to pay for his day - to - day needs , and now he owed his landlord £ 200 .