Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: have a ball (used idiomatically: no)
When Ashton staged his version of the ballet he made Cinderella 's leitmotif into a major factor fur the development of the plot by creating a matching dance leitmotif . It is first heard and seen when the dancing-master gives the Ugly Sisters a lesson . After they have gone to the ball , Cinderella , with a giggle , picks up her broom and gives it the same lesson , using it as a partner . This introduces several movements seen later in more solemn form when she dances with the prince at the ball . Some of the same movements are repeated yet again in the final pas de deux , when the Prince raises her high above the glistening Stars before leading her away to the land where ‘ they lived happily ever after ’ , where all fairy tales should end .
Idiom: on the back of (used idiomatically: yes)
In an effort to curb the man - eaters some very strange ruses have recently been attempted , including putting out dummy woodcutters wired up to give an electric shock . Tigers have attacked the dummies and torn them apart without any sign of being discouraged by the sharp jolt they have received . Since tigers are said usually to attack humans from the rear , Sunderbans workers have been issued with plastic face masks to be worn on the back of the head . This device seems to have worked . The year after these were introduced , no one wearing a back - to - front mask was killed but thirty people who were not protected in this way fell victim to tigers .
Idiom: cut loose (used idiomatically: yes)
The 22-year - old No 8 was the key to a back row supremacy that absorbed , disheartened and ultimately destroyed Oxford 's thrust for glory in the 111th Bowring Bowl Varsity match . Underdogs Cambridge survived a desperate opening 13 minutes during which they never set foot in Oxford 's half . But the Dark Blues did everything but score and paid heavily when Peters and his physically lighter troops cut loose in the second half . Peters said : ‘ They threw everything at us and got nothing , whereas our small breaks to their half did produce points . ‘ In the end , we played positionally rather than going for an all - out assault , otherwise we might have had an even bigger score.’
Idiom: blood and guts (used idiomatically: yes)
The suggestion of fatherly closeness was essential , even if it seemed awkward and difficult to illustrate . Contra children would come to Washington to be held aloft by Reagan at banquets , the little girls in lipstick and party dresses ; North would visit the camps , trying to talk to the children , and taking pictures to keep in a shoebox in his office . ‘ No little girls,’ said Channell to Richard Miller before another of North 's briefings ; there were too many children in the slides , and the audiences were ‘ tigers’ , preferring ‘ blood and guts’ . For North , however , to be seen among the local people , to be seen to be doing good generally , even if vaguely , was an essential ingredient in a just war . McFarlane , who in his more sober Methodist way felt much the same , tried to explain it at the hearings .
Idiom: go round in circles (used idiomatically: yes)
So I said I fell down a flight of stairs . I still needed money so I had to carry on working the streets . I was going round in circles because it 's a very small world — pimps and prostitutes . There 's only a certain number of places a prostitute can go and earn money , so all a pimp needs to do is drive round in his car until he sees you . When he gets you he beats you up for leaving him ; you go back and start working for him again ; then you try to get away from him ; he finds you again and you just go on like this all the time .
Idiom: on edge (used idiomatically: yes)
Difficulties in managing school tasks : confusion of letters which are similar in shape ( o and a ) ; unexplained delay in reading ; short attention span in visual tasks ; marking the place with the finger continuously when reading ; reversing letters ; poor hand - eye co - ordination ; inability to copy work from blackboard . 3 . Indications of possible visual problems in play activities : reluctance to take part in physical activities ; clumsiness and tendency to bump into objects ; hovering on the edge of the playground rather than actively playing ; walking ' carefully ' ; poor balance and fear of lights . 4 . Appearance of the eyes : swollen , sore , crusted or drooping eyelids ; continuous or uncontrolled eye movements ( nystagmus ) ; misshapen or irregular pupil ; eyes that are not normally aligned and working in co - ordination .
Idiom: in the long term (used idiomatically: yes)
Opposition MPs said it could lead to hundreds of job losses for fishermen . Calum MacDonald ( Lab , Western Isles ) said : ‘ This introduces the principle of private ownership of the seabed and introduces landlordism of the sea . There is no guarantee for local fishermen that they will have their livelihoods protected and a danger of job losses in the long term.’ One similar order affected a shellfish farm in Loch Moidart a few miles further north , but that was granted to the Government 's Sea Fish Industry Authority for research . John McFall , Labour 's Scottish rural affairs spokesman , said : ‘ Ministers were not prepared to give a pledge that there would be no further measures of this kind which ban fishermen from pursuing a centuries long tradition .
Idiom: by and large (used idiomatically: yes)
Feelings of xenophobia — a fear or hatred of the foreigner — can so readily by whipped up , turning friendly sporting occasions when the ‘ hype’ has been too great , when the passions have run too high and the pervading atmosphere has been too intense . What comes to mind is a series in the Seventies between South Africa and New Zealand , a couple of unhappy England versus Wales matches , the crowd emotion at the Grand Slam decider at Murrayfield and the World Cup quarter - final in Paris . But by and large rugby has much to be proud of as a vehicle for bringing nations together in a sporting brotherhood when political barriers threaten to keep them apart . Diverse cultures , religions and races have often found common ground and contact in rugby and lasting bridges between nations or peoples have been supported by sporting encounters at all levels . Nowhere is this better exemplified than by the way in which Ireland ( Eire and Ulster ) takes to the rugby field as one team .
Idiom: buy the farm (used idiomatically: yes)
Distribution of Age Groups In these samples older farmers were found in Leicestershire , Cumbria and Derbyshire , whilst the younger men were to be found mainly in North Wales , North Yorkshire , Orkney and Speyside . The numbers in the 45–64 year bracket are probably accentuated by part - time farmers who had recently bought a small farm either for early retirement or to invest redundancy money . The three areas with farmers in the upper age brackets often had their families working on the farm . just over half of all farms had family members working on them , and , of that number , 54 % were full - time on the farm .
Idiom: spit blood (used idiomatically: yes)
He gave a roar of rage , scrambled to his feet and turned round , his right arm raised . Gallagher drove his right fist into his stomach and followed it up with a left to the mouth . Sonny went staggering back , arms flailing , spitting blood and fragments of teeth . Gallagher walked after him , halting only to hit , weaving and ducking the wild swings of the powerful fist . He broke Sonny 's nose and closed his left eye .
Idiom: cheek by jowl (used idiomatically: yes)
The whole thing was preposterous , most certainly a mistake . NHS hospitals were notorious for getting papers mixed up and cutting off the wrong leg or arm . And with all those people stacked up in X - ray , cheek by jowl , rubbing their short , white dressing gowns together , the plates were bound to have got into the wrong envelopes . Anyway , they 'd got my papers wrong well before that . They 'd X - rayed my chest when any fool knew that it was the kidney that had had to come out .
Idiom: to all intents and purposes (used idiomatically: yes)
The old stage of asking the House for ‘ leave to introduce’ a bill when the possibilities can be debated before any negotiations or drafting have been started has been abandoned . Occasionally governments have opened up a discussion by publishing a ‘ Green Paper’ which set out alternative possibilities . Thus the House receives what is , to all intents and purposes , a finished product . The Opposition state their view of the bill during the second reading debate . Then it is usually sent to a committee .
Idiom: go straight (used idiomatically: no)
Lunch - time entertainment consisted of Madam being very unladylike and seeing that the Corgi neither got any bits of sandwich that were going , nor too much attention . A couple of miles along well - marked tracks , and then the verge of the A470 , brought us to Dinas Mawddwy . We by - passed the town and went straight to the former station , which is actually not in the town itself , but at Minllyn . The station site is now owned by Meirion Mill , an enterprising woollen manufacturing company . The site is distinguished by an imposing pair of gates , there is the station building itself and the mill .
Idiom: keep the peace (used idiomatically: yes)
Tears can be another face of anger , a form of relief for the intolerable tension and frustration of not being able to show what we are thinking and feeling . The women who talked to me about using their tears to deal with anger , recognized quite clearly what they were doing . Most either thought it did n't matter as long as they got relief for their tension and frustration and saw it as a way of keeping the peace , but some were trying through women 's groups or assertion therapy to express themselves more honestly . They had become aware of their fear of sharing feelings with their partners and saw this as an unhealthy way to live . They were mostly younger women .
Idiom: by dint of (used idiomatically: yes)
Isobel nodded , her lips compressed , and then said : ‘ Yes , that ghastly , fat Humpty Dumpty is heading for a great fall , poor thing . And it is partly my fault.’ Mrs Theresa Murphy , the Mayor 's wife , had , by dint of playing first violin in the local amateur orchestra , established herself as one of the cultural leaders of Tollemarche . On four Thursday evenings during the winter she could be seen , dressed in spotty black and glittering with rhinestones , sawing happily away on her violin through four public concerts , under the baton of Mr Dixon , the elderly English master from Tollemarche public school , who tried gamely to keep the rest of the orchestra in time with her , since he had long ago given up trying to keep her in time with the orchestra . As the wife of the civic leader , Mrs Murphy had to do considerable entertaining in generous western style , but in this field she made no attempt to keep pace with Olga Stych or Donna Frizzell ; she knew when she was beaten .
Idiom: to the bone (used idiomatically: yes)
Their living standards are dropping out of sight as governments ‘ adjust’ their economies in order to cope with the debts . ‘ Adjustment’ is the polite , IMF word for grinding down whole nations and entire populations . It goes like this : when the IMF devises an adjustment package — as it has done in over 50 countries — social service budgets are cut to the bone . Health , education , transport and other welfare spending goes by the board . Food subsidies are reduced or thrown out altogether and food prices may double or triple overnight .
Idiom: give and take (used idiomatically: no)
Malinowski 's natives were real people ; not over - socialized cardboard figures locked in everlastingly mindless mechanical solidarity . Social life for Malinowski was like capitalism for Keynes : ‘ a going concern’ , in which individuals interacted with each other in pursuit of mutually rewarding transactions . Here the guiding motto was : you scratch my back , and I 'll scratch yours — a process to which Malinowski usually referred in more dignified language as ‘ reciprocity’ or ‘ give and take’ . Since Malinowski made no secret of his earthy , materialist view of man 's motives it is odd that it has taken modern exponents of transactional analysis and game theory so long to recognize his pioneering achievements in this field . These ideas on culture and society are , as one would expect , a product both of Malinowski 's own flamboyant personality and of his experience as a field - worker .
Idiom: meet someone halfway (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ See wh - wh - what you can find out,’ he says . His voice gurgles like the creek behind his property . As we leave the garage and head for the house , Lonnie , Asaad and Isaac meet us halfway . ‘ Saad wanted to go with you , Muhammad,’ Lonnie says . She hands the child to her husband and looks at his feet .
Idiom: fall by the wayside (used idiomatically: yes)
The sexual and familial aspects of short - term cohabitation are only too well known to most social workers . It is probably fair to say that relatively few such unions are undertaken in conscious expectation of their brief nature . Often we may equate them with more formal partnerships which fall by the wayside after only a short existence ; except that in their breakdown the feelings of guilt , humiliation and bitterness may occur even more strongly than when an " honest " attempt is felt to have been made .
Idiom: dice with death (used idiomatically: yes)
If , of course , her grief becomes prolonged and it seems that she is making no headway towards adjustment , it will be advisable for her to see her doctor , but this rarely happens . Helping an elderly parent through her sorrow can be a long , hard haul , but very rewarding in the end — not only in terms of her recovery , but also because , if you find yourself in the same position in later years , you will look back on this experience you shared with her and find that it has left you with a far deeper understanding of grief , and a greater confidence in the healing power of time to see you through your own period of adjustment to loss . Bereavement is the one battle in which people dice with a death that has already occurred in order to survive all the dangers of the loss and deprivation it brings , and it takes courage to stand shoulder to shoulder with someone who is in the thick of it . But fortunately the dice are almost always loaded in their favour , and if we decide to fight with them the end result , for them and for us , can be that ' Out of this nettle , danger , we pluck this flower , safety ' . On their own
Idiom: in the long term (used idiomatically: yes)
Unfortunately , stimulus spending and the related bailout of the financial system , together with the recession ’s effect on revenues , contributed to fiscal deficits on the order of 10 % of GDP in most advanced economies . According to the International ~ Monetary ~ Fund and others , these economies ’ ratio of public debt to GDP will surpass 110 % by 2015 , compared to 70 % before the crisis . Aging populations in most advanced economies imply additional public debt in the long term , owing to non - fully - funded pension schemes and rising health - care costs . Thus , in most advanced economies , deficits need to be reduced to avoid a fiscal train wreck down the line . But much research , including a recent study by the IMF , suggests that raising taxes and reducing government spending has a negative short - term effect on aggregate demand , thereby reinforcing deflationary and recessionary trends – and undermining fiscal consolidation .
Idiom: out of the box (used idiomatically: no)
The circuit cable of a loop - in system runs to each ceiling rose in turn , and each light switch is wired directly to its rose . 6 The cable of a junction box system runs into and out of a succession of junction boxes . 7 Replacing a surface - mounted single socket with a surface - mounted double is the easiest option .
Idiom: in light of (used idiomatically: yes)
In 1985–6 , the government transferred a quarter of the overall funding for work - related FE courses in further education colleges from local authorities ' budgets ( by deducting it from the rate support grant , the predecessor of the revenue support grant ; see Chapter 8) to the MSC . Initially , each authority received back from the MSC , for WRFE , a sum roughly equal to the amount deducted from its grant . But to obtain these funds now , all local authorities have to submit three - year plans for their provision of WRFE , for approval by the Department of Employment in the light of its judgement about training needs and appropriate methods of meeting them . The Department 's share of the costs of approved courses was intended to average out at 25 % . In 1989–90 , the Training Agency 's share of expenditure on WRFE was an estimated 112 million .
Idiom: smoke like a chimney (used idiomatically: yes)
No You did n't get up there I wanna see Pat see if she 'll look after Aaron on Friday night , but Gary says he does n't want Tim and Lorraine having him cos they smoke like a chimney Yeah I mean we go round on a Saturday night and we come out stinking of smoke , cos they smoke one after another
Idiom: go hand in hand (used idiomatically: yes)
He brought , on the one hand , an attitude and , on the other , a brace of new writers to the paper who form part of the backbone of today 's NME , a place where people argue , fight , get drunk and get worked up about pop under the benevolent and sardonic regime of the mohicanned tartar of rock publishing , Danny Kelly . Will this do ? The continuing success of NME in the ' 90s has gone hand in hand with the continuing life and longevity of pop and rock as a medium . The paper enjoys a symbiotic relationship with new trends as they emerge ; Madchester , baggy , shoe - gazing , you name it , we go drinking with it . We maintain a passionate but insolent affair with the beast that spawned us — rock'n'roll .
Idiom: on the game (used idiomatically: yes)
You do n't ha not if you , not if you chop your legs off they do n't . Well me dad 's eighty two , I mean he 's hardly gon na go out to work is he ? He can go on the game . He does . He does already .
Idiom: follow suit (used idiomatically: yes)
Any would - be future purchaser of Newco is likely to want to acquire the entire issued share capital of the company , and the investor looking for an exit will be reluctant to allow management or any other minority shareholder to frustrate this intention . Moreover , the presence of unco - operative minority shareholders may well affect the price a purchaser is prepared to offer . Accordingly , the investor may seek to include a provision whereby if the investor wishes to sell a specified percentage of the equity , then the other shareholders must follow suit and sell at the same price per share . An example is set out below : 1 If the Majority holder(s ) of [ Ordinary Share Capital/ " A " Ordinary Shares](for the purposes of this Article ( " the Seller " ) ) intends to sell [ all / part/ … %]of its holding of [ shares of the Ordinary Share Capital/ " A " Ordinary Shares](or any interest in such shares)(the shares to be sold by the Seller being referred to as " selling Shares " ) the Seller shall give to the Company not less than 14 days ' notice in advance before selling the Selling Shares . That notice ( " the Selling Notice " ) will include details of the Selling Shares and the proposed price for each Selling Share to be paid by the proposed purchaser ( " the Proposed Purchaser " ) , details of the Proposed Purchaser , the place , date and time of completion of the proposed purchase being a date not less than 14 days from the date of the Selling Notice ( " Completion " ) .
Idiom: go begging (used idiomatically: yes)
The shares will be non - voting ones which means that the workers will keep control . Kelly concludes : ‘ Obviously there are still choices about whose money you 'll accept . We would n't go begging to British Nuclear Fuels , for example . We have to face the fact that there is virtually no money which has a 100 per cent pure source.’ There are some misgivings about the effects the envisaged doubling of visitors will have and the enormous expansion of residential courses .
Idiom: out and about (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Of course . I 'm glad he decided to come . It 'll do him good to get out and about . You too . Here , what 'll you have?’
Idiom: all over the place (used idiomatically: no)
Susan shuttled to and fro between Rotterdam and London , occasionally going to Felixstowe instead of London , and making two voyages during the year between London and Stockholm . Charlotte had a more or less regular trade with Bordeaux , but had been once to Lisbon , and twice to Las Palmas . Josephine , Cynthia , and Agnes had been all over the place . They were fairly frequent Visitors to Antwerp , but from there showed no obvious pattern in their voyages . There were passages to Italy and Greece , various trips to Tunis and Algiers , with calls at a number of smaller North African ports , and there were a number of voyages considerably farther afield to West African ports , mostly small , as far South as the Gulf of Guinea .
Idiom: on your toes (used idiomatically: yes)
But he 'd still got hold of it . But the man at the front had n't been told this of course , naturally enough and he could n't see that so suddenly with a jolt the wardrobe left him , two steps ' worth instead of one at a time . So he shot forward , and what you are trained to do as a good removal man is you drop if you 're dropping anything you drop it on your toe or on your hand . It does n't matter if you injure yourself as long as you do n't injure the customer 's furniture . So his foot went down two steps , and sure enough down came the wardrobe onto his toe and did n't do any damage and then just bounced to the next step down .
Idiom: cap in hand (used idiomatically: no)
It let in sunlight from late morning till late evening , casting it across the square of a table in the middle of the room . Jack of Longleigh , Adam of Rochester , and Ydrys obediently fell silent , thinking that perhaps they had arrived in time to witness the last ebbing breaths of their one - time Lucifer . They queued , docile and long - faced , by the window , their caps in their hands , waiting to be allowed to peep inside . On the bed there indeed lay a man . But it was not a man they had ever seen before .
Idiom: take the liberty (used idiomatically: yes)
That evening I telephoned his home and could get no reply . I telephoned again early next morning before he would have gone to work , but again there was no reply . Next I took the liberty of calling on his daughter , Mrs. Carolan . I 'd telephoned beforehand , and she agreed to see me , but she was obviously puzzled by my visit . I explained that I wanted to see her father on a matter of business , but that his office had been unable to tell me where he was , and that I could get no reply by telephoning his home .
Idiom: strike a chord (used idiomatically: yes)
' Who are you crying for , Caroline ? ' Who , not why … The significance of the question struck a buried chord , but she was too choked with angry emotion to query it . ' I 'm not crying . Goodnight , Roman … '
Idiom: make a killing (used idiomatically: yes)
Germany has not yet implemented it . Pressure to do so has been increased by the recent row over Franz Steinkühler , the leader of Germany 's biggest trade union . Mr Steinkühler , a member of Daimler - Benz 's supervisory board , made a killing by buying shares of Mercedes Holding shortly before they were exchanged for shares in Daimler - Benz . Though he claims to have had no inside knowledge , he may yet be forced out of his job — and the government forced to speed up planned legislation . Britain , the only other EC country not to have implemented all provisions of the directive , is doing so in the Criminal Justice bill that has just come before the House of Commons .