Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: have a few (used idiomatically: yes)
Indeed , the Metro is well built all round and has the feel of a real quality car . It 's all enough to make one feel quite patriotic and forgive and forget the years of Allegros , Marinas and Princesses that British Leyland foisted on a wretched , unsuspecting British public . The Metro does , however , have a few little problems ; the ghastly coloured light with which the dash is illuminated , a sort of blood - shot red ; some quite nasty , outdated body styling which involves add - on , red - striped plastic strips down the sides and a central locking system which emitted a noise rather like a very small horse coughing . However , the main gripe has to be with the amount of room in the back . I know a family with three kids under five who can get the whole clan plus a bike and pushchair into their metro and drive off still smiling .
Idiom: have a ball (used idiomatically: yes)
The essence of Arsenal 's style was speed , with intermediate passing reduced to a minimum and every move subordinated to the aim of scoring . It lacked the sophistication of a complex buildup like Tottenham 's , say , but for sheer excitement it was unsurpassed . With Alex James as the pivot picking up clearances from defence and passing immediately to the front - runners , Arsenal could have the ball in their opponents ' net only seconds after being packed in their own goal area . As Bernard Joy has observed , ' it was twentieth century , terse , exciting , spectacular , economic , devastating . ' And for an audience badly in need of escape from the misery of financial crisis and economic depression , at its worst in 1931 , it was an exhilarating spectacle .
Idiom: neck and neck (used idiomatically: yes)
They are competing for plum roles and staking their claim to be the No 1 box office attraction . Both beauties have refused offers to team them together in a film since neither wants to be upstaged . They are running neck - and - neck in the popularity stakes . Scores of movie producers , co - stars and fans go gaga over the pretty - baby pout of Sridevi . She oozes a raunchy sex appeal and her legs have earned her the nickname Thundering Thighs .
Idiom: get the better of (used idiomatically: yes)
Nothing that would lead me to inform your firm of her passing.’ ‘ Quite so.’ Isabel Lavender felt uneasy , as though he were mocking and trying to get the better of her , as though she were guilty of something . He lolled back in his swivel chair , one huge thigh thrust over the other , a bright - eyed man . Not his father 's son .
Idiom: run the gauntlet (used idiomatically: yes)
Yet , recognition of that extension might at the same time open up the possibility that vulnerable people who do not desire death , despite their suffering , might be killed by others for reasons of their own : this would subvert the right to self - determination , and is an argument against a mercy - killing defence or offence . It seems probable that some doctors carry out mercy killings by administering large doses of pain - killing drugs which shorten life significantly , and the law may well protect them from liability . However , such trust is not shown towards relatives and friends who assist suffering people in this way : they must run the gauntlet of a legal process which accords no formal recognition to the circumstances under which they killed . ( i ) Conclusion : the Murder - Manslaughter Boundary The basic legal distinction between murder and manslaughter lies in the mental element , but English law has now developed qualified defences to murder which mark out cases where , despite the presence of the mental element for murder , culpability is thought to be sufficiently reduced to warrant a reduction in the class of offence .
Idiom: turn the screw (used idiomatically: yes)
Not if you only had to do it once . So I would n't be a breadhead . They 're the ones who really turn the screw . Me , I am temporarily in the wholesale business . Selling to little traders on the street .
Idiom: in the long run (used idiomatically: yes)
In this area he is aggrieved by the proposed new regulations relating to overseas players . ‘ I do n't want to say too much as people will think I am only concerned because if the new rules come into force it will mean Shelford ca n't play for us next season . ‘ However , the one thing the southern hemisphere does know a thing or two about is rugby union and to close the door would be to the detriment of the English game in the long run . One place in a team is not too much to give up in return for new ideas and expertise.’ Rugby Union : Morris takes blame for Orrell fall COURAGE LEAGUE ONE
Idiom: the more the merrier (used idiomatically: yes)
Policy on research illustrates that difficulty and is , indeed , central to it . The commission 's goal is to encourage industrial organizations , mostly companies , to collaborate on advanced technology . It is a standard condition of its schemes that partners in its projects should come from at least two member states ( but the more , the merrier ) . The commission expects to pay no more than half the costs of agreed projects . One obvious snag is that the insistence on international collaboration , whatever cultural value it may have , is inconsistent with the Single Market ( ostensibly a reality since the beginning of this year ) .
Idiom: ring a bell (used idiomatically: no)
Pragmatism rules , but for how long ? ' Time is the key , ' says Fahmy Huwaydi , an authority on Islamic movements in Egypt . He believes that the radical opposition 's shrillness is merely an effort ' to ring bells to attract attention . ' But if the war drags on too long , and the Iraqi people suffer too visibly , more people will grow angry that Egypt is involved . Whether the radicals ' anti - western rage takes wider hold depends on the outcome of the war .
Idiom: fall short (used idiomatically: yes)
Fire brigade personnel are not put at risk in situations where their means of access and fire fighting is at a disadvantage . To gain these advantages , a fresh look will need to be taken at all our storage risks to ensure that the system does give the required performance . It is of no use to go half - way to meet the objective and to fall short in this aim . If this could be achieved — and there seems little reason why not — then a whole new phase of storage protection could begin instead of trying to adapt systems which , while suited to use in a hot gas layer beneath a ceiling , are not basically suitable to the problems involved in high - racked storage . A range of new systems could be produced including the ‘ zoned’ systems , which would be far superior in use and would have a market potential in their own right .
Idiom: sit tight (used idiomatically: yes)
They find themselves cover in secluded areas , adopting a temporary home which they may use on a number of occasions . This is known as a ‘ seat’ and , being partially hidden , it gives them a sense of security . They sit tight , are unlikely to budge unless really disturbed and can be easily shot with a .22 rifle or even a high - powered air rifle . Typical long - netting scene , dissecting woodland for daylight netting . A rabbit on its ‘ seat’ , the resting place often used during daylight and the alternative to remaining below ground .
Idiom: two a penny (used idiomatically: no)
Murphy followed in his father 's footsteps . The Protestant Electoral Union of 3 Craven Street , Charing Cross , employed him as a lecturer from the early 1860s . His argumentative gifts as a popular orator attracted crowds willing to pay a penny or two to hear him . At his most sensational lecture he sold shilling copies of a pamphlet , The Confessional Unmasked ( 1851 ) . This quoted the Roman Church 's instructions to its clergy to enquire , during confessions , exactly how , and how often , married couples made love , and alleged that a woman who committed adultery , confessed to it , and was absolved , could thereafter tell her husband that she was and always had been faithful to him .
Idiom: fair game (used idiomatically: yes)
Such attitudes were familiar , for instance , in British imperial possessions in African India and American and there is no evidence that the Russian colonialists differed to any degree . In fact , the supposed readiness of Russians to ‘ accept’ baptized or otherwise assimilated natives as Russians is in itself a manifestation of the national arrogance of the Russians , which eventually engendered a sense of inferiority among many of the indigenous peoples . Meanwhile the latter were looked upon by most Russian settlers as fair game to be preyed upon in a variety of ways . Before the Russians came there was no landownership in Siberian although rights to the use of hunting - grounds , fishing - grounds and pastures were respected by tradition or asserted by force . Under Russian rule many native communities were deprived of such rights by sheer seizure of land ( zakhvat ) or by forfeiting territory as a result of pernicious debtor - contracts into which they had been duped by unscrupulous settlers .
Idiom: on the house (used idiomatically: yes)
1184 , held that there was no duty on the bank to ensure that the husband and wife obtained independent legal advice . In Bank of Credit and Commerce International S.A. v. Aboody [ 1990]1 Q.B. 923 the court was concerned with three guarantees entered into by a husband and wife to cover the indebtedness of a family company of which both were shareholders and directors and with three charges on the wife 's house executed by her in favour of the bank securing the same indebtedness . The judgment of the court was delivered by Slade L.J. The appeal was decided on the comparatively short point that although undue influence had been exercised by the husband upon the wife , it had not been shown that the transactions were to the manifest disadvantage of the wife , in which circumstances the court held that the wife could not be relieved from the effect of the charges on her home .
Idiom: have a ball (used idiomatically: yes)
Subject : Concern First off , its a little premature to judge them at this stage . I agree they SEEMED to be lacking in ideas when in posession sometimes , especially when the 2 centre backs had the ball , or Batty was bringing it out . The reason for this was the lack of movement up front . Noone was looking for the ball or running into space .
Idiom: take the liberty (used idiomatically: yes)
They discussed two histories of music recently advertised , and Boswell believed each would suffer from the other . Johnson contradicted this , believing the comparisons would talk both books into greater prominence . The intrusive Boswell then took another liberty — ; that of pointing out to Johnson ' that he very often sat quite silent for a long time , even when in company with only a single friend ' , at which Johnson reminded Boswell of an acquaintance who had once observed , ' Sir , you are like a ghost : you never speak till you are spoken to . ' Boswell 's biographical method pulls a double bind : he irritates while he rewards . On the one hand , his invasiveness of Johnson triggers an immediate cringe : on the other , were not Boswell so crass so frequently , his readers could not get so close to Johnson .
Idiom: touch wood (used idiomatically: yes)
So there 's How 's your tooth ? Erm oh , touch wood , fine . Aha . I ca n't believe it dear !
Idiom: hold someone's hand (used idiomatically: yes)
She smiled and Harry decided against flight . ' Let 's see if we can help . ' She held out her hand . Harry backed away . ' Are you on your way somewhere ? '
Idiom: around the clock (used idiomatically: yes)
Any news of the man Hendrique saw ? Or the one at the Mainz plant?’ ‘ Nothing yet , but I 've got a team working around the clock so it should only be a matter of time before they come up with the answers.’ Benin moved to the writing desk and stared absently at the framed family photograph then turned back to Werner . ‘ I 've come here to ask you to direct operations from on board the train.’
Idiom: square the circle (used idiomatically: yes)
Here there are two problems . First , how to persuade other member states not to insist on proposals which take us down the federal route and , second , how to avoid agreeing to wording which would be inconsistent with the wishes of the British parliament and electorate , while at the same time trying to reach an agreement . This is as difficult as trying to square a circle . One suggestion has been that the Government would agree to amendments in December 1991 , with the reservation that these would not be binding upon the United Kingdom unless and until they had been ratified and approved by the United Kingdom parliament . Of course , it has always been axiomatic that no treaty amendments can ever be operative unless and until parliament has approved them .
Idiom: play games (used idiomatically: no)
Hammond laughed and began to shake his head , then stopped , seeing how Kim was looking at him . He looked down . ' What if I do n't play his game ? What if I refuse to shut you out ? ' ' Then he 'll discredit you .
Idiom: in the long term (used idiomatically: yes)
Pollution from the dregs of an ever increasing energy consumption threatens to poison everyone in their own waste . Nuclear power , once thought to be a way to buy time while fixing all of the above problems , has become discredited following the Chernobyl disaster . The only real hope for mankind in the long term appears to be fusion — the power of the Sun harnessed on Earth — because it is clean , cheap and available . On four continents scientists have consumed the equivalent of billions of dollars trying to capture the dream . Teams from the whole of Europe concentrate their work at a single lab in southern England where a huge torus of magnets containing gas at 100 million degrees tries to reproduce the Sun 's power .
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: no)
Technically the Austrians have come on strongly , Rudolph Nierlich winning two slalom golds at the Vail World Championships . He was ill and below form in Australia , but has gone well in training here . The Utes who once inhabited these regions handed down tales of gods as entities with a wry sense of humour , human faults and even a mean streak . By Sunday the world 's top skiers may share something of their understanding . Nottingham Forest 1 , Everton 0 Police escort for referee .
Idiom: bear in mind (used idiomatically: yes)
The idea that evaluation is important in everything was encouraged . In addition to informal chat about how things were going and where improvements could be made , staff were required , and parents were invited , to write a brief evaluative comment about each shared activity . At the ‘ Parents Chat’ parents were encouraged to discuss not only what had been recorded but also how valuable the term 's work had been , bearing in mind the relationship of the goals on the recording sheet to general curriculum goals . THE FUTURE Armed with all the information , and with new recording and evaluation procedures , both nurseries began the long job of tackling specific issues raised .
Idiom: off and on (used idiomatically: yes)
And go along with it . I 've been I 've been intending to ask you actually about the about the women workers . Er you you 've mentioned them off and on quite a few times er that there Mm . that it was predominantly women that were in the carriage cleaners .
Idiom: part of the furniture (used idiomatically: yes)
I became the manager of one shop , I was there so long . Then I worked for Jimmy Young for quite a long time … he saved my bacon . I worked as a researcher for him for so long I became part of the furniture , I really did . OVERTURE AND BEGINNERS … FRANKIE HOWERD
Idiom: up for grabs (used idiomatically: yes)
Staff understand the reasons for the Government and Commercial split but not the isolation of Services , in general giving rise to ‘ Cynicism and demotivation and reducing productivity.’ Reassurances on pay and conditions were needed , particularly after breaking the civil service link . ‘ QIS has made a very successful job of forming corporate glue’ across locations between colleagues and now the inevitable fragmentation and the feeling of being up for grabs’is destroying links and making people retreat into defending their own area . We feel like a patient with a possible terminal illness that no one will tell the results of the tests . The patient may shoot himself before finding out it is only an ingrowing toenail.’
Idiom: break someone's heart (used idiomatically: no)
‘ You get no prizes for coming second.’ Luke picked up his whisky , his freckled hand was so big you could hardly see the glass . He did n't tell her it broke his heart every time the Argentines hurt a horse or he saw a terrified stray dog racing by the side of the road . He knew the cruelty she was going to witness over the next three months would be agony for her because , for some reason , she trusted animals far more than humans , but , like a nurse looking after animals in a vivisection clinic , he could n't prevent her pain , only alleviate it as much as possible . ‘ There 's certainly a degree of roughness with horses,’ he admitted .
Idiom: to the tune of (used idiomatically: yes)
Mrs. Bottomley I am pleased that there has been a threefold increase in , for example , HRT prescriptions during the past 10 years . We fund to the tune of £ 1.9 million about 40 voluntary organisations which help spread the message about the importance of HRT and the prevention of osteoporosis . Our recent leaflet on women 's health , which has been a remarkable success , also provides information . However , the hon . Gentleman is right .
Idiom: not a pretty sight (used idiomatically: yes)
Even so , it is worth getting to know and keeping a sharp look out for the signs from as early as May on , because if you act quickly enough it is possible to stop the attack before it spreads through the rest of the foliage by picking off , and , this is important , burning the infected parts . Left undetected , the spots will expand to discs , then to coalesce , by which time , as a rule , the fungus will already be on its way down the leaf stalks and into the main stems . Black spot has to be taken very seriously because , given the right conditions , it can ravage and virtually destroy a rose garden in just a few days — I have seen this happen , and it is not a pretty sight . It can occur much earlier , but the peak danger period for the disease generally begins from the early part of July , and may persist right through the growing season until the big temperature drops of late autumn upset it . Three important factors encourage the disease : warm humid muggy weather , clean air , and lack of hygiene .
Idiom: rule of thumb (used idiomatically: yes)
The first step in the evaluation of the ANLT processing system was to select a few sentences from the Longman / Lancaster corpus and samples of recognised text ( the HP business text in Appendix 5 and estate agents details ) . Each test sentence used is therefore a valid member of the English language ( although it may not necessarily conform to prescriptive syntactic rules ) . Some general rules of thumb were used in the selection of test sentences . Firstly there should be no punctuation ( beyond sentence terminators ) due to the acknowledged failure of the ANLT to process such phenomena . Simpler sentence forms were preferred and no sentence containing more than 18 words was used .
Idiom: come to terms with (used idiomatically: yes)
Yet , if the central issues of both the nature and scope of holist explanation are to be investigated further , it is vital that such connections should be unravelled . If we want to know when the counterfactuals definitive of holist explanation can be sustained , we shall have to study the links between constraints such as those imposed by the longue durée and the attributes of individuals in considerable detail ; and this in turn requires the separation of the latter from the mélange of événements . The failure to come to terms with this task casts light on , though it does not excuse , the hectic character of the final part of Braudel 's Méditerranée : even when connections are traced between conjonctures and the actions of individuals , they tend to leave the actions heavily under - determined — so much so , in some cases , that they are barely explained at all . It remains true , nevertheless , that if the members of the school wish , as they say they do , to write ‘ total history’ , they must perforce deal with the relations between the properties of social wholes and those of individuals , which are the main focus of concessive holism . This problem is most explicitly addressed by Le Roy Ladurie , and I shall reconstruct his view from his study The Peasants of Languedoc .
Idiom: song and dance (used idiomatically: yes)
I think most people heard about it from r.s.s . , but I hope some have come on from TSB . Anyway , there are 98 people on now ( there are more names than that on the list cos some people are on twice for various reasons ) . I was going to make a song and dance when we got the 100th subscriber , but 98 's near enough . Less than 6 months ago there were approx half a dozen people each using makeshift alias lists ; now there 's 100 of us world - wide , literally . Japan , New Zealand , Oz , US , the lot .
Idiom: hit the sack (used idiomatically: yes)
After that , she spoke to Dominic while I had a chat with the prof . and Meryl Armitage . ‘ We went to The Crown — Dominic and I , that is ; Meryl did n't want to come — and played darts in the saloon bar . I suppose it came into my room for a few minutes to see a book I 'd been telling him about , then he left and I hit the sack . Your English beer 's a bit strong for me . And they should cool it down .
Idiom: hard cheese (used idiomatically: yes)
cos I did n't fancy eating it like that and er she goes , I told her give us a piece of some of that wrapping you know yes with the hard cheese , sealed with the plastic mm , mm so there 's a nice bit there , so ninety five or ninety six pence
Idiom: let sleeping dogs lie (used idiomatically: yes)
Ringwood Hall , a gentry dream built about 1805 and now overlooking Sheffield 's satellite towns and remaining greenery , boasts the full five bones . If you think your dog is spoilt rotten at home , check out what 's on offer here . There 's a ‘ chat - and - pat’ service ; staff call your hound by name , and tiptoe past your room at night so as to let sleeping dogs lie ; your dog 's photograph is taken in the hotel ; the hotel manager appears for a final ‘ wave - and - wag’ ; there 's a VIP service for show - winning dogs ; and a discount for families whose dogs are better behaved than the owners ! Of course , it 's not all free - range . Dogs ca n't go in eating areas , and it 's preferred that they do n't climb all over furniture in sitting rooms , but there 's a good acre or 27 of space for romping and rambling .
Idiom: no man's land (used idiomatically: yes)
Why ca n't the same methods that were used by the Commonwealth yesterday vis a vis Rhodesia , vis a vis Namibia and vis a vis South Africa , not be applied in respect of the colonial and settlerist situation here . Elsewhere , with many teachers engaged in the fifty mile protest , hundreds of youngsters used their day out to protest at the green line barrier separating Greek and Turkish communities . Penetrating no man 's land in a fracas which left three British U N peace keeping soldiers injured , before tear gas from the Greek police dispersed them . Later John Major urged Commonwealth heads to drive on world trade talks and pledged a crusade to ease poor countries debts . Apartheid arguments over , the Commonwealth 's now seeking a new role spreading democracy , but the assembly lacks stars and so far the Cypriots have stolen the show .