Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: let your hair down (used idiomatically: yes)
I did n't see her while I was at Bourn , which I was not sorry about . I was inclined to echo Mary 's disgust . It did n't seem to me the way to behave towards someone with whom you had shared a good many midnight hours , swopping confidences and generally letting your hair down , not to mention the many other evenings when we had had such fun with Henry and Jimmy , and I felt rather aggrieved at being treated this way . It certainly seemed that a chapter of my life was closing , and I felt even more disgruntled when I found out that the other girls had all managed to get postings near their homes for their final few months in the Service . I was the only one who was moving further away , and that knowledge did n't improve my outlook on things in general .
Idiom: come unstuck (used idiomatically: yes)
Dangerous , she thought , and ruthless too . Master of all he surveyed , and used to his own way . Well , he 'd come unstuck this time . She could n't be bought and she would n't be forced out of here . She realised she was revolving everything they 'd said to each other round and round in her mind .
Idiom: get lost (used idiomatically: yes)
I sat fretting , wanting to be away . By some miracle , the 2CV had n't been towed away when I 'd finally dragged Ash out ; we 'd made it to the M1 , picked up a hitcher and — rather beyond the call of duty , I 'd have said — dropped him where he was going , in Coventry . We got lost in Nuneaton trying to get back on the M6 , and were now heading through Lancashire at dusk , still an hour or more from the border . ‘ Prentice , there are a lot of better reasons for not talkin to your dad , believe me.’ ‘ I believe you,’ I said .
Idiom: play ball (used idiomatically: no)
And while the Indian batting , laced with the talents of Mohammad Azharuddin , Sachin Tendulkar and Sanjay Manjrekar , looks strong on potential , poor form on the tour to South Africa may prompt changes . The guile of Phil Tufnell and the experience of John Emburey gives England a clear advantage in the spin department and the pace of Phil DeFreitas , Devon Malcolm and Chris Lewis should exploit any life in the pitches . Paul Taylor 's left-arm pace could be valuable at Calcutta , where the ball tends to swing , but for him to play in the first Test after barely a month of his first trip overseas would be a gamble . England will probably be happy to settle for a draw at Eden Gardens and force the pace in the second Test in Madras . Graeme Fowler and Gatting each scored double centuries in the sweltering heat of the Chepauk Stadium to set up England 's victory in 1985 .
Idiom: across the board (used idiomatically: no)
HAVING read the June edition from cover to cover , I can find no notice or article , either from the Secretary of the RFU or the Editor , on the proposed alterations to the Courage League and Pilkington Cup regulations which will affect all clubs in the country . These changes strike at the very base of rugby union football as played for the last 100 years in that a player could play when , where and for whom providing that he paid his subscription before departing from his old club . The changes , if reported correctly , will cause problems right across the board . A player joining a new club during the close season or after the season starts will have to wait 30 days if joining a club two leagues higher or lower before he plays for that club in a Courage league game or 120 days if joining a club on the same level or one league higher or lower before he plays for that in a league game ; he waits 180 days if he is not a British passport holder . Yet he can still play for his former club while he waits for the clearing period to expire .
Idiom: sink or swim (used idiomatically: no)
Our mams always watching us . But it was mainly on the beach we used to play all the time . Cos when the well as soon as you could walk in the summer er you know when weather permitting my mam'd take us down on the beach there and , Here you are , sink or swim in you 'd go into the water . Did you ? Yeah .
Idiom: in someone's pocket (used idiomatically: no)
That 's the one who 's just got engaged to this guy who 's got the big Well that 's No put those crisps in your pocket . You going out tomorrow are you ? Oh I do n't know
Idiom: at death's door (used idiomatically: yes)
We do not know anything about the nature of her illness . Was it purely physical or did it have a psychosomatic dimension , as her sudden and dramatic recovery could indicate ? Naturally nobody would have made this distinction at the time and certainly Julian and all her friends thought that she was at death 's door . When a priest came to give her the Last Rites , she gazed on the crucifix that he held before her eyes and felt her illness leave her . She fell into a trance and for about five hours received fifteen consecutive visions and revelations in which she saw Christ , the Virgin Mary and the Trinity itself and heard Jesus ' explanations of these ‘ showings’ .
Idiom: in the driving seat (used idiomatically: yes)
Costly mistake Davies made a costly mistake at the stroke index one second play - off hole though . Bullock found himself in the driving seat after Davies was forced to play sideways out of a ditch . The Three Rivers star made no mistake with a chip and a par putt from four feet to seal victory and a third round tie away at Romford . Colchester were also given a tough match by Woodford .
Idiom: in the black (used idiomatically: yes)
But the gallantry of her friends would not allow of this ; and the man in faded black , mounting the breach first , produced his plunder .
Idiom: once and for all (used idiomatically: yes)
In a case where the breach is not " capable of remedy " , there is clearly no point in affording the first of these two opportunities ; the object of the notice procedure is thus simply to give the lessee the opportunity to apply for relief . Unfortunately the authorities give only limited guidance as to what breaches are " capable of remedy " … Slade LJ continued by pointing out that , although the breach of a positive covenant is not always capable of remedy : Nevertheless , I would , for my part , accept … submission that the breach of a positive covenant ( whether it be a continuing breach or a once and for all breach ) will ordinarily be capable of remedy … the concept of capability of remedy for the purpose of section 146 must surely be directed to the question whether the harm that has been done to the landlord by the relevant breach is for practicable purposes capable of being retrieved . In the ordinary case , the breach of a promise to do something by a certain time can for practical purposes be remedied by the thing being done , even out of time … However , this did not mean that negative covenants are always irremediable covenants .
Idiom: fair game (used idiomatically: yes)
Yes . for libel . There are various exceptions erm and there have been two or three in recent years , but it therefore meant that they were fair game for saying anything so they were fair game for a very sensational headline because there was very little chance of recrimination . Mm . Now the view er was that they were dignified and above taking action and also in the sense that the public was credited I think with more sense than to believe everything and that the public memory is relatively short and therefore if you start a court action and you then have coverage in the court action , you are merely making the thing worse erm sometimes the things that some people may have thought were highly actionable one day , become almost a joke and something of affection later on and you can , one of the classics maybe is about the Prince of Wales talking to his plants , now that a national joke and he will make jokes about it in speeches
Idiom: as a rule (used idiomatically: yes)
These have lost favour in recent years . Although they provide a guaranteed pension payment , the return on investment is usually very low . As a rule , they tend only to be recommended for people starting a plan within five years of their retirement . Choosing the right policy . This is one area where it really pays to shop around .
Idiom: on the face of it (used idiomatically: yes)
Her manner was strangely tense . Wycliffe was cautious . ' On the face of it , it seems unlikely , but I suppose it 's possible . ' She nodded . ' I keep telling myself that it is n't possible , that I imagined it . '
Idiom: hit the jackpot (used idiomatically: yes)
JOCKEY Michael Kinane clinched his eighth Irish championship when Sinissipi landed the Eyrefield Race at the Curragh yesterday . Kinane , making a flying visit home between last weekend 's Breeders ' Cup meeting in Florida and resuming his contract job in Hong Kong , was also bringing up his domestic century for the season . Allen hits jackpot RAIN in the hills was forcing water levels higher on the River Ribble at Ribchester as Criterion AC prepared for their day 's fishing . Not ideal conditions , yet Brian Allen still managed to total 29 lb 1 oz of chub ranging to 3 lb .
Idiom: break someone's heart (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Are you saying he could n't take it , that he broke off the engagement?’ ‘ You can say what you like,’ Rachel shrugged . ‘ All I know is he broke Jennifer ' s heart and his name has been taboo in our family ever since.’ ‘ And now he 's come to work with us … ’ said Nina slowly . ‘ You 're going to find this very difficult , are n't you , Rachel?’
Idiom: in the flesh (used idiomatically: yes)
Puttnam answers in typical fashion , going through a list of the Ministers he has dealt with . ‘ The short answer to your question is ‘ yes’ , and the long answer is that you are subject to the calibre of the Minister.’ In the end , Puttnam in the flesh endorses the film industry view of Puttnam : a beguiling mixture of energy that radiates to others and energy focused on himself . While he laughs off comparisons to Lawrence of Arabia , he admits that ‘ to spend 10 years getting the film made must mean it corresponds to something deep inside’ . But to what exactly ?
Idiom: in this day and age (used idiomatically: yes)
It wa it was the night before they went on holiday . How depressing Marg ! I mean I can understand it in this day and age , people trying to Get their money back . Yeah .
Idiom: look on the bright side (used idiomatically: yes)
Remember Carella.’ Avoiding Ellen 's eyes , Zen wrapped his coat more closely about him . ‘ Anyway , let 's look on the bright side . The way things are going I should be back in Rome soon.’ ‘ I still do n't understand what all the fuss is about,’ Ellen replied in a slightly peevish tone .
Idiom: give someone the slip (used idiomatically: yes)
Eventually we arrived in Moscow the day before the May Day Parade . David and Geoffrey were perfectly welcome because they were English , but I was not welcome because I was American , so while they were staying on to see the May Day Parade , I was meant to leave and fly to Berlin where I would wait for David and Geoffrey who were going on by train through Poland . I decided to give the authorities the slip and went through the bathroom window of the hotel and got myself lost in Moscow . When they finally found me it was too late to get me out , because everything stops at 5.00pm the day before the Parade . They were furious .
Idiom: out of the woods (used idiomatically: no)
After the harvest Kāli brought up the cows to graze the stubble and fertilize the fields for next year 's buckwheat crop . At night the whole family slept in a rough shelter on the corner of their land and at the edge of the forest . They rebuilt it every year out of slats of wood and branches , with sheets of birch - bark for a roof . When Chola got up in the morning the hut was like a dark capsule afloat in mist . She walked round and lifted one of the slats from the roof of the lean - to chicken coop .
Idiom: to a T (used idiomatically: no)
Very last overhead , and you 've only got to look at half of it . We 're gon na do Spearman 's next week For those of you who want to , what you can do , you can take the correlation coefficient . I 've called it R P to distinguish it from Spearman 's which we 're gon na do next week , but you can convert the value of R to a T score and if you 've got a T score you can look it up in T tables to work out whether it 's significant . Most tables , though , in fact already give you correlation coefficient . So what we 're saying is that you can take the correlation coefficient , multiply it by N minus two divided by one minus R , square root it first , and you convert it to a T. R P is the correlation coefficient ca calculated by the way we 've j that that 's just a little squiggle
Idiom: in tandem (used idiomatically: yes)
This is certainly the case in many inner city areas , where there has been philosophical and political opposition to the scheme and where the organisational barriers to becoming a fundholding practice have been considerable . Meanwhile , purchasing authorities themselves have changed , particularly where previous districts have merged . Family health services authorities have spent considerable effort defining not only a role in purchasing primary care but also working in tandem with district health authorities to begin discussions about extending purchasing across the interface between primary and secondary care . Increasingly during this time almost all purchasing authorities have struggled with how to educate general practitioners and so empower them to use their influence constructively in the purchasing process . This seems a two stage process .
Idiom: far and away (used idiomatically: yes)
Mr. Ashdown I know that the Minister has a different view from that which the Prime Minister has expressed on such matters . I invite him to read the Prime Minister 's response to the right hon . Member for Chesterfield , which was far and away the most interesting part of the debate — Amended text or not , it reveals the muddle to which the other 11 nations of Europe do not subscribe . It is a model towards which they are moving away from— Interruption
Idiom: take someone for a ride (used idiomatically: yes)
And was it any wonder she 'd fled , if she 'd been subjected to the same bullying and threats by an earlier generation of de Rocheforts ? Sabine thought hotly . That — arrogant brute had implied that her mother had taken his family for a ride financially , yet , according to Ruth Russell , Isabelle had been pregnant and penniless , reduced to working as a mother 's help when Hugh met her . The two stories contradicted each other . She looked up at the cloudless sky .
Idiom: have no truck with (used idiomatically: yes)
FOR a writer who was put in the ‘ Garbage School of Literature’ along with Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner by the editor of the Jackson Daily News , Eudora Welty has done well for herself . Before arthritis put a recent stop to her writing , she had won near - universal acclaim as one of the great interpreters of the deep South . She has no truck with the usual literary clichés of the region — glorious magnolias , elegant tea parties , Confederates by moonlight . Her novels have the same honest sensitivity as the photographs she has been taking since the 1930s — photographs of rural poverty in Mississippi , of back streets with laundry drying on a line , of proud school teachers , of plum - pickers with their tin buckets . She calls the photographs ‘ snapshots’ , unpretentious statements of courage that she tried unsuccessfully for years to sell ( they sell well now ) .
Idiom: have a cow (used idiomatically: yes)
Our cows are our life . I am a rich man . I have many cows and many children . I have offered many cows to pay this man 's family . But the government wants to take away my son also .
Idiom: lose your head (used idiomatically: yes)
He made it sound as though it was the most wonderful thing in the world . ‘ Please,’ she said huskily . Do n't lose your head , Ellie , she warned herself . He 's playing games . You know it , and he thinks you 're playing the same one .
Idiom: act of God (used idiomatically: yes)
This principle of strict liability prevailed through the Middle Ages in Mediterranean countries , including Western France . In slightly modified fashion , the same principle still governs the liability of common carriers in English common law . Instead of the Roman damnum fatalis , the common law carved out exceptions for inherent defects or vices of the goods , shipper 's contributory negligence , and acts of God or of the King 's enemies . The English law strict liability principle , however , was not mandatory and thus carriers could contractually disclaim it . And disclaim it they did , especially with the advent of steamer shipping across the Atlantic Ocean .
Idiom: out of thin air (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ No particular reason.’ ‘ Do n't give me that ! You did n't just pluck those adjectives out of thin air . Someone must have used them — but who?’ Knowing Candy would only continue to probe till she got the truth , Rory gave in gracefully .
Idiom: on the square (used idiomatically: yes)
The Second World War set back Stalin 's hopes of completely rebuilding Moscow and replacing it with a new Soviet city , centrally planned and co - ordinated like the economy . Even so , by 1941 considerable progress had been made . The Cathedral of the Assumption on Red Square had been demolished along with other redundant relics of reactionary religion . The famous metro had been built by the trench method involving the demolition of houses which lay in the path of the tracks . By the time Ceauşescu first visited the Soviet capital , the new wedding - cake skyscrapers of the University and the Foreign Ministry , along with less outlandish and more uncomfortable blocks of flats , towered over the ancient heart of Muscovy .
Idiom: turn heads (used idiomatically: yes)
' What about your businesses in Australia ? If they are n't part of your main holding company in London , maybe you could use them to set up some sort of diversion ? ' she queried . Ross turned his dark head to give her a broad smile of approval . ' Clever girl ! Let 's hope the opposition are n't quite as bright as you seem to be , ' he said , his words and the warmth of his smile suddenly bringing a flush to her cheeks .
Idiom: run out of steam (used idiomatically: no)
‘ Hopefully , we 'll get back out on the road again . So the train bumps and farts its way along the tracks . It runs out of steam every now and again but generally gets re - fired.’ You 're obviously still a P - bass user after all this time … ‘ I 've been round the instrument circuit from A to Z , Alembic to Zon , and I always seem to come back to the P - bass , always .
Idiom: close to home (used idiomatically: yes)
Obvious examples include inventors , medics and military men . Architecture is less obvious , but it still happens . In the past , Scotland 's architects might find commissions close to home — such as England . A fairly recent example of this might include Law and Dunbar - Naysmith , the Edinburgh New Town partnership which designed Sunninghill Park . If the name sounds only vaguely familiar , it might be more familiar as ‘ SouthYork’— the marital home of the Duke and Duchess of York .
Idiom: think twice (used idiomatically: yes)
Most investors have headed for Germany , piling into car and construction companies . Since the start of 1991 , however , the Stockholm market has risen by 16 % , outstripping London , Tokyo and New York . So Swedes may think twice before rushing more money abroad . They will also have to rethink their international property strategy — if they have one . Though they have done well in Germany and Belgium ( they now own one - tenth of all the office space in Brussels ) , Swedish investors have come a cropper in London .
Idiom: save the day (used idiomatically: yes)
At tapes up next month there will be a team on the track at Oxford Stadium … albeit in the second division … Worcestershire businessman Tony Mole has pledged an undisclosed sum to keep the wheels rolling for three years … John Payne co - promoter says that last Friday the speedway club was finished so Mr. Mole has saved the day … Supporter Geoff Barber says it 's good news and a relief to be racing But there 's only one rider left … all the others went in search of better deals after a row over new payscales …
Idiom: get the picture (used idiomatically: yes)
Tracey Boyd 's original prints from her books:123 , ABC and Nursery Rhymes adorn her home . Each work has a price tag . ' I 've got so many pictures that I thought I 'd have a clear out ' , she explains , surrounded by the sale items which represent months of hard work . ' I always try to keep one picture from each book back for myself . I give it to my husband so that I ca n't sell it if money gets low ' .
Idiom: follow suit (used idiomatically: yes)
Of ~ course , the British Foreign ~ Office denied that these thoughts reflected the British government ’s views . The departing commander of British forces in Afghanistan , Brigadier Mark Carleton - Smith , has claimed that defeating the Taliban was “ neither feasible nor supportable . ” Two days after making that gloomy assessment , the French chief of the defense staff , General Jean - Louis Georgelin , followed suit . And Kai Eide , the United ~ Nations Secretary - General ’s special representative in Afghanistan , has agreed that the situation can not be stabilized by military means alone . All call for a concerted political effort implying some form of negotiation with the Taliban .
Idiom: night and day (used idiomatically: yes)
Generally , if you keep an open mind , and do not become too engrossed in the technicalities , you will pick up danger signals fairly quickly , should they come your way . Travelling on Foot Body language is with us night and day but something else which takes up a fair amount of time in our lives is travel . Throughout the day , we are travelling from one place to another — sometimes round the corner , sometimes round the world — on foot , by car , bus , train , taxi , ship , horse or plane . Apart from the way in which we carry ourselves ( i.e. our body language ) , there are a few basic precautions which we can take to improve our safety when travelling .
Idiom: come full circle (used idiomatically: yes)
She slipped sideways and felt a familiar coaming beneath her hand . The airlock ! She had come full circle . Dragging herself to her feet , Piper stumbled across the threshold of the chamber . All she had to do now was
Idiom: lay down the law (used idiomatically: yes)
This phrase was the first point made by father . It burned itself into my brain from his eternal reiteration . He pointed out that whether I was listening to a lecture , writing an exam , taking in the instructions of a track coach , studying in silence , reading a book , writing an essay or a report , or laying down the law in a pub , communication was operative . I had to develop communication methods which became so automatic , so intuitive , that facts , ideas and opinions flowed easily and effectively without loss of time between me and the rest of humanity living or dead . No , nothing spiritualistic!— dead authors still communicate as you read .