Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: get to grips with (used idiomatically: yes)
Raising letters to selected customers and suppliers is also amply catered for . The new method of showing the information for a VAT return ( it looks just like one of the horrid things ) is more than just useful , it 's a Godsend , and once you 've got into the methodology , invoice raising and bill paying as well as stock control become very quick and easy . So , for accountants and those that can receive plenty of training and can get to grips with the program , it is very powerful and as complete a set of tools as you 'll see . For the accounts illiterate , it presents a very steep learning curve , and some re - learning if you 're an established Windows user . It 's very difficult to know how to sum the whole package up .
Idiom: in the saddle (used idiomatically: yes)
It 's not only riding skills that count when considering a holiday , but the ability to cope in unfamiliar surroundings . This and the social side , if any , is what can make or break a holiday . It 's no use going on a six day trail ride , with six hours daily in the saddle , if all you want is some gentle hacking in a scenic setting , with perhaps a few longer pub rides as an added bonus . Nor is it any use going with non - riding friends or family , unless riding is just one part of a sporting package which also includes walking and fishing for example , or even wind surfing or canoeing . Fulfilling Expectations
Idiom: on a roll (used idiomatically: yes)
It would have been easy to nick his wallet at that point . The crowd was full of pickpockets , as I pointed out to him , and I could have easily said , well , I am sorry Oscar , but you know it is one of the risks here . I bought him a red hot , a sort of sausage on a roll with mustard . He would n't eat it , so I did . Later when he was hungry , he ate three of them in a row , washed down with bottles of beer which he said he did n't much care for .
Idiom: break the bank (used idiomatically: yes)
But their newly - installed river defences held fast . No train services were operating west of Swansea , West Glamorgan , and the main rail link between the South - West and London was again broken when the River Exe flooded at a bridge outside Exeter . An RSPCA inspector was hailed a hero after the River Teifi broke its banks to pour through farmland near Newcastle Emlyn , Dyfed . Tony Lloyd helped rescue 123 stranded sheep , horses and cows . Five students and an adventure group leader stranded in force 10 winds , torrential rain and sub - zero temperatures were found huddling under a plastic bag and singing songs at Dartmoor , Devon .
Idiom: give something a miss (used idiomatically: yes)
McEnroe began with two stunning aces , then broke Kulti 's first two service games with disdain to take the opening set in just 28 minutes . Kulti , 21 , put up a little more resistance in the second set , but to no avail . The only German in the field , Michael Stich , beat top seed Stefan Edberg to ensure continuing home - country interest in the absence of Boris Becker , who is giving the tournament a miss because of tiredness . Stich , the 1991 Wimbledon champion , beat the world No 2 7 - 6 , 6 - 7 , 8 - 6 in a marathon duel . Star attraction Agassi , the world No 9 , also crashed out , comprehensively beaten 6 - 4 , 6 - 2 by No 6 Chang .
Idiom: fit the bill (used idiomatically: yes)
But because his value is limited to £1.5 million — another stipulation in the contract which first allowed him to move to Sampdoria — there is room for additional bonuses and signing on payments to be made available to him . If it came to a straight cash contest , Blackburn can leave the rest standing . An experienced central defender remains one of Kenny Dalglish 's priorities , and Walker would fit the bill more than adequately if the Rovers boss felt the need to reinforce his side 's challenge for Championship honours . Clubs set to cash in Rob Shepherd
Idiom: on the square (used idiomatically: yes)
This Windows 3 . x crossword program is simply excellent . The installation is very professional as is the actual program , but what else would you expect from leading leisure company SIERRA . You are presented with a blank crossword and a list of clues , and as you click on a square the relevant clue is highlighted . For crossword fans everywhere this program is a must and you can even set the difficulty levels . Requires Hard Disc .
Idiom: once in a while (used idiomatically: yes)
While I am happy to pass on what knowledge I have , I am always ready to listen to someone who knows more than me . This is , after all , how we all gain knowledge and pick up useful tips . However , once in a while I am visited by a ‘ self - proclaimed expert . I can usually tolerate him , nodding tactfully when I feel it is appropriate , and being carefully non - committal when he makes any sweeping statements . But one particular time springs to mind when he was a little less tolerable .
Idiom: miss the boat (used idiomatically: yes)
AT&T 's NCR Federal Systems Division is upgrading some of the products it is supplying as part of US government contracts : it has added the AT&T StarStation 386 DX PC to its $ 800 million , eight - year Office Automation Technology and Services ( OATS ) contract with the the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) which it won back in in 1989 — 12,500 Intel 80386-based personal computers and 2,500 laptops have been shipped so far — and has upgraded computers supplied under the 1988 , $ 1bn Standard Multi - user Small Computer Requirements Contract to run Unix SVR4 . Meanwhile , NCR has formed a $ 3 million alliance with Software Clearing House Inc to sell Frame Technology Corp 's FrameMaker desktop publishing software into the NCR customer base . Part of the reason the Open Software Foundation missed the boat with its Architecture Neutral Distribution Format technology , according to observers , is that it wrongly targeted independent software vendors as the home for its solution . ISVs , observers note , are only interested in direct ports to gain leverage market windows — it is end users that really want the stuff . Santa Cruz Operation Inc has had a good look at Unix System Lab 's Destiny desktop — it is a beta site — but is n't worried by the competition , ‘ after looking at it closely , we 've no problem with Open Desktop,’ it says .
Idiom: with a will (used idiomatically: yes)
He went on to chide the Fifth Army : The hypothesis that we are in a position to keep up a constant supply of fresh and highly - trained troops to replace those exhausted in battle , and also of the necessary supplies and ammunition , is erroneous . Even with the best will in the world , we could not do it . With this caveat , he endorsed the Fifth Army proposal for resuming the offensive on the Right Bank . Then , in a remarkable display of vacillation , he proceeded to pour cold water on Knobelsdorf 's assertion that ' the fate of the French Army will be decided at Verdun ' though this had been the very foundation of his own Memorandum of less than four months earlier .
Idiom: on the square (used idiomatically: yes)
He graduated from Moscow University with degrees in psychology and political science and joined the internal security . As compensation for his lack of height and pebble glasses , he was gifted with a charming smile and a friendly manner . He wooed and married one of the prettiest secretaries in the office on Dzerjhinsky Square . Promotion came rapidly once he caught Viktor Rakovsky 's attention . He joined Rakovsky 's select team of young Intelligence operatives .
Idiom: from scratch (used idiomatically: yes)
The types of courses available are looked at in detail in chapter 4 . If you should decide to accept a place on a course , do not rush out to buy textbooks until you have finished reading this book , and guidance on returning to learning in particular . Lengthy booklists are expensive and dull : with some time and effort it will be possible for you to build up a personal library and reference system which is individually geared to your particular needs , and one which helps you to build on your existing knowledge rather than attempting to start again from scratch . If for some reason you can not or choose not to attend a course , then you will have to find some means of charting your progress with the limited help made available by colleagues . If you live or work within borrowing distance of a nurse education centre , then you should ask for the name of the post - basic or continuing education tutor .
Idiom: get the better of (used idiomatically: yes)
She was fed up , she was hungry , and now she would have to confront a horde of troublesome workmen lounging about the house , banging nails , screwing screws and making ribald comments when what she had thought she was escaping to was a slice of peace and solitude . She felt the fire inside her begin to burn again and she pushed the door wide open , her mouth ready to frame a few well - chosen words on the importance of finishing jobs on time . To hell with her resolution not to let her temper get the better of her . She tried to count to ten , and tried even harder to remember what that astrologer had said to her , but had that astrologer really known what she was talking about anyway ? It had seemed a good idea at the time , a bit of expensive and unusual fun with some of her friends , and sure , she had been intrigued when she had been told that she should beware of her fiery nature 's setting alight a situation which would become frighteningly uncontrollable , but that was three days ago .
Idiom: know no bounds (used idiomatically: yes)
Sport : Go for it . LIBRA ( Sept 24 — Oct 23 ) Libran magnetism knows no bounds . You 've got a smile that can charm the knickers off a nun . This month , with Venus — your planetary ruler — in your own sign , there 'll be no stopping you .
Idiom: bounce off the walls (used idiomatically: yes)
How well they remind us of the purpose for which the ark has been fetched ! No wonder its coming puts the fear of God into the Philistines ! The Israelite army greets it with the same great shout as bounced off the walls of Jericho and heralded their demolition . The Philistines ' camp is close enough for them to hear the noise , and when they learn its meaning they are afraid and say , ‘ A god has come into the camp.’ They are polytheists , of course , and to them the ark means only ‘ a god’ .
Idiom: get to grips with (used idiomatically: yes)
Sir DAVID ATTENBOROUGH Naturalist Voice over More used to coping with exotic wild animals , Sir David Attenborough gets to grips with a pipa — an ancient Chinese instrument . His impromptu music lesson was part of the launch of a campaign to raise £ 1.1 m to fund the post of a curator for the music collection in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford . It contains over 6,000 instruments which span centuries from these paleolithic reindeer bone whistles , to the harp which belonged to Queen Victoria 's Welsh harpist .
Idiom: under the table (used idiomatically: yes)
She went everywhere with us and could be fast asleep in the back of the car when we turned into our lane , whereupon she would sit up and start sniffing the air . She , I have no conception how , also knew we were home . Still on the subject of pets , I must n't forget Mrs. I found her under the millstone table outside the kitchen on a cold November evening . Nigel was in Japan for a conference , and she and I both needed a bit of company . She was also very hungry and was drinking from a muddy puddle .
Idiom: on ice (used idiomatically: no)
The hexane step was repeated , the decanted hexane pooled , dried on a rotary evaporator and stored . A further 35 ml 90 % ethanol was added to the flask containing the ethanolic faecal suspension , which was then refluxed gently for two hours . After reflux the sample was cooled on ice and centrifuged at 1500 g for 15 minutes . The supernatant was removed and saved . The faecal pellet was resuspended in 45 ml 80 % ethanol and refluxed for a further two hours .
Idiom: bums on seats (used idiomatically: yes)
Class ‘ What matters is that I have signed a class international player who can score goals , a player who could become a giant at Old Trafford . ‘ Eric will put bums on seats , and he 'll get bums off their seats when he starts playing . ‘ I 'm not looking for problems or confrontations off the field . Eric will realise what a great club he has joined.’
Idiom: keep someone in the dark (used idiomatically: yes)
Striker Bernie Slaven could again be on the substitutes ' bench after his quick recovery from a knee operation . Lawrence has not revealed who will be Nicky Mohan 's central defensive partner . He wants to keep Portsmouth in the dark until the teams line - up for the kick - off . Middlesbrough will start favourites , especially in view of the teams ' contrasting home - and - away records . Boro have a good home record while Pompey are bad travellers .
Idiom: lay down the law (used idiomatically: yes)
Right . Er yeah and if you were a , if you were a rightist cadre that had doubts about all this and actually wanted to go the slow more moderate line , you could also find enough in here to be able to , to sort of curtail things a bit ? I mean they 've already made the mistake once of trying to lay down the law too heavily erm th this might seem , this seems to , to accommodate most I mean how erm if you 've got a cadre in a village I mean how supportive is he and how how is he going to implement er radical change ? I mean what , what does , what means does he have at his disposal ? Erm only through working with the peasants surely .
Idiom: call a spade a spade (used idiomatically: yes)
James 's sentences in this passage are on the average much shorter than those of Conrad ( 35 words per sentence ) . At the same time , the impression is that James 's syntax is more involved . This may be caused to some extent by the general abstractness of the language ; but it is also a matter of the kinds of syntactic presentation and complexity that James favours:(i ) Just as he seems to avoid calling a spade a spade , so James seems to avoid putting first things first . He tends to mention antecedent events after subsequent ones , and causes after effects . The two longest sentences in the passage,(2 ) and ( 11 ) , show this clearly .
Idiom: to the letter (used idiomatically: yes)
Dear Mr. Rifkind , EFA ( and other issues ) Thank you for your reply of Nov. to my letter . I do n't know if you saw a recent programme on BBC TV called ' Not Made in Scotland ' . It was about how difficult inventors find it to raise finance to bring their inventions to market , no matter how promising the inventions may be , and how many potentially marketable creations are languishing for lack of capital , since the financial institutions are either not interested or not prepared to take risks with anything which is not already established .
Idiom: get up someone's nose (used idiomatically: yes)
And the reason for this is that usually the male has a vast number of sex cells and consequently can afford to compete er for er female cells to fertilize . In grasses , for instance , it 's not the ovule that is dispersed by the billions on the wind , it is the pollen . The pollen is tiny and minute , so minute that it can get up your nose and give you hay fever , but er you 're never gon na catch hay fever from modules because they 'll never be released , they 're relatively massive compared with , compared with pollen . So what the pollen cells are doing are investing in mating success . That 's why they broadcast themselves to the wind .
Idiom: in the black (used idiomatically: no)
Gospel according to Hollywood . VIOLENCE begets violence . The cliche is never more true than in the black and white morality of the technicolour red - blooded Western movie . The baddies perpetrate dirty deeds . Some goodies are gunned down .
Idiom: come to mind (used idiomatically: yes)
Overall there can be no doubt that this a major issue for all lovers of great music . Shunning the sensational electricity of Glenn Gould ( Sony ) , the academic care of Robert Riefling ( Simax ) , and the post - clavichord wistfulness of András Schiff ( Decca ) , Tatiana Nikolayeva goes her own authoritative and purposeful way towards the musical truth as she conceives it to be . Listening to these performances , often taken at relatively modest speeds ( eg . the D major and G major Fugues , Book One , the thought that too much velocity and technical facility can be harmful comes to mind . Nikolayeva certainly does not have the Horowitzian panache generally associated with Russian virtuosos — it is her mind and ears which are transcendental rather than her fingers — but that ‘ handicap’ is actually a positive attribute since it makes for painstaking care and originality in all of her interpretations . [ MM ]
Idiom: hold court (used idiomatically: yes)
BILL GATES ON WHY THERE 's NO WHITE HOUSE IN HIS FUTURE AND WHY WORLD IS WAITING FOR NT Despite sporting the same name that brought the former governor of Arkansas the mother lode of political fortune , Microsoft Corp chief executive Bill Gates says there are no politics in his future . ‘ I could do it if I wanted to , but I do n't want to,’ he told a gathering of the Computer Journalists Club in Paris yesterday , as he held court on a range of topics , from the US government and economy , to the increasing pervasiveness of personal computer technology . Gates never publicly supported Bill Clinton for president , although a number of Microsoft executives campaigned for him . Of the Clinton - Gore tenure so far , he said ‘ In some ways it 's interesting to have a president interested in technology ; it could be good , and it could be bad .
Idiom: by hook or by crook (used idiomatically: yes)
If the paragraphs quoted do contain anything to gripe at seriously , it must be Treebeard 's opening sentence , with its oddly redundant phrase , ‘ by stock or by stone’ . What have stocks and stones got to do with the matter ? Is n't the phrase just meaningless , flung in for the rhythm , meaning no more than ‘ by pillar or by post’ , ‘ by night or by day’ , ‘ by hook or by crook’ ? So one might feel . But it is exactly in phrases like this that one sees Tolkien playing with medieval notions of style , with ‘ loose semantic fit’ , with a personal view of poetry .
Idiom: catch fire (used idiomatically: no)
Two members of a singing group have been killed in a motorway crash , just days before their television debut . Rose Patterson , who was twenty - eight , and twenty - six year old , Dee Miller were part of the group , the DIVAS . Both women were killed on the M - four near Swindon when their car crashed into the back of an army convoy and caught fire . On Wednesday , the DIVAS will be seen in Central 's new series for rising stars,’ Pot of Gold’ . The family of a man shot dead in a row over a fence have started legal action against two people cleared of the killing .
Idiom: run amok (used idiomatically: yes)
The Arts : The Week 's Other Releases Final Analysis ( 15 , 125 mins ) Implausible psychological thriller from Phil Joanou , starring Richard Gere as a smooth psychiatrist embroiled in an affair with the sister of a patient . The patient ( Uma Thurman ) seems to have undergone a severe childhood trauma ; the sister ( Kim Basinger ) is married to a handsome Greek gangster ( Eric Roberts ) and runs amok at the least taste of alcohol . Who is fooling whom , and why ? A series of increasingly disconnected twists leads , via murder , the courtroom and the madhouse , to a pseudo - Hitchcockian climax atop a storm - lashed lighthouse .
Idiom: two-way street (used idiomatically: no)
Hall is right to say that current Labour and Liberal parties can not take on the task of realignment , but would be equally correct in saying they ca n't be by - passed . The overriding task for those who want change must , therefore , be to transform these parties and their identities , by breaking down the ghetto walls between them and the ‘ dispersed left’ in academia and the public services , and between these groups and the myriad of collective identities for which they presume to speak . This means building the institutions , the two - way streets , the ‘ meeting - places’ across civil and ‘ political’society . The task is immense , painfully long - term and difficult to ‘ sell’ , but it has one great merit as a grounding for optimism : there is no alternative , no quick fix . Specific issues can provide initial meeting places , and open up communication , but that communication must build institutional foundations .
Idiom: have a heart (used idiomatically: no)
To what irrational lengths does this passion hurry us ? What is this medley of Honour and impetuous Inclination ? " My heart 's inflamed With love 's alarms Which now so sharply stings And now so strongly charms . " [ PAMELA , with hands tied , is carried with her bundle round the stage by LINCOLNSHIRE ROBIN and dumped unceremoniously stage centre . ] [ MRS .
Idiom: laughing stock (used idiomatically: yes)
His engineering brilliance has taken him from being Rolls - Royce 's ‘ infant prodigy’ to Lotus ' ‘ grand old man’ , with a sheaf of important achievements along the way . Three stand out . More than anyone else , he was responsible for transforming BRM from motor racing 's laughing stock into the efficient outfit that won the world championship in 1962 . His thinking over many years lead to his innovative Lotus 78 , the car that pioneered F1 's ground effect era , and his creative energy over the past 10 years has been instrumental in galvanising Lotus , once a car maker with a fragile future , into an engineering consultancy of huge standing worldwide . Rudd 's passion for engineering goes back to childhood , and particularly to one ‘ action - packed weekend’ when , as an eight - year - old , he stayed with his maiden aunt in London .
Idiom: raise the roof (used idiomatically: yes)
They share the essential goal of Christian unity . When Wakefield played a full part in the International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 350 people of various denominations gathered for the main service of the week at the new church of St Peter and St Paul . The singing nearly raised the roof . The address was by Mgr Bill Steele , Ecumenical Officer for the Diocese , who was welcomed back also as former parish priest . Despite sometimes experiencing frustration at the slow progress towards Christian Unity , he said , we should try very hard to understand and overcome the difficulties congregations of different faiths have in getting to know each other and working together .
Idiom: set the wheels in motion (used idiomatically: yes)
The World ~ After November MADRID – On November 6 , either Barack ~ Obama or Mitt ~ Romney will emerge victorious after an exhausting electoral race , setting the wheels in motion for the coming four years . An ocean away , on November 8 , more than 2,000 members of the Chinese Communist ~ Party ( CCP ) will gather in Beijing . Approximately a week later , the members of the Politburo ~ Standing ~ Committee will walk out in hierarchical order , preparing to take charge of a growing country of 1.3~billion people .
Idiom: hear things (used idiomatically: yes)
Well that 's a load of waffle , that answer nothing does n't it ? . I mean I 've never heard a thing so . I wrote and said that a lot of members our pension , we could n't afford it , and that we owned our own hall so therefore we had a lot of cost to to keep it in good repair and why was it nine pound . I , I see that they written your name on that so obviously it 's , it , they 've had so many .
Idiom: round the clock (used idiomatically: yes)
Doc on a night little earner ! SANDY JORDAN is the kind of old - fashioned family doctor who still treats his patients like VIPs . He is on call round - the - clock in Minehead , Somerset , and does n't hesi - tate to turn out in the middle of the night if necessary . So it was inevitable that there would be an emotional outburst when it was revealed that the local health authority are investigating the much - loved GP for working too hard . They are querying whether all his night calls are really necessary .