Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: high and low (used idiomatically: yes)
I hope he wo n't be too wary about dispensing with the services of some of those announcers — and quick . The Arts : Encore crazy OPERA Robert Henderson on the high and lows of a Jose Carreras spectacular and a variable Don Carlos By ROBERT HENDERSON AS commonly happens in concerts given by the opera world 's greatest stars , it was almost as if the two official parts of the eagerly awaited Albert Hall appearance of tenor Jose Carreras ( sponsored by Lloyds Private Banking ) had been a huge , preparatory up - beat to the encores .
Idiom: on the ground (used idiomatically: yes)
Current Cheltenham second favourite Mighty Mogul is likely to head the market here but , in a race that could be slowly run in the absence of an obvious front-runner , he is worth opposing . I fancy FLOWN , on offer at a generous 9-1 with Hills . Nicky Henderson 's gelding has hated the testing surface on his two runs this season , but is top class on decent ground as he proved when hacking up from Halkopous at the Festival . I have run out of excuses for Granville Again . 2.50:DAVID Nicholson pulled off a tremendous training performance when Duntree won at Cheltenham after two years off the track .
Idiom: over the moon (used idiomatically: no)
I can the cat and fiddle go ? Hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle , the cow jumped over the moon , the little dog laughed to see such fun and the dish ran away with the spoon Ooh we ai n't done your faces yet have we ? No Mary , Mary no , no , no da , da , da , da , da , da , a , da , da , in the morning
Idiom: have a cow (used idiomatically: no)
Chiefly everyday scenes of village and farm life early this century they capture the final phase of the Real Rural England before its social and physical fabric was torn apart by the motor car . One picture shows children sharing a village street with scratching hens and a horse - drawn delivery cart . Another has a cow loitering up a dusty lane . That track might have been the boundary of the world for some villagers , most of whom rarely ventured beyond their nearest market town . Like Frank Sutcliffe at Whitby , Louisa lovingly recorded the vanishing way of life the ploughing horses , craftsmen in their dusty workshops , villagers trailing home behind the laden hay wagon , rakes on their shoulders .
Idiom: seal of approval (used idiomatically: yes)
These ventures will spearhead Astra 's planned export drive . It has already bought a component distributor in Canada and is starting one in Virginia . Astra likes to believe that the quality of its management , blessed with the IFC seal of approval , sets it apart in Indonesia . Mr William Soeryadjaya ( Chinese name : Mr Tjia Kian Liong ) , the 67-year old seigneur , is a founder - member of the Euro - Asia Centre at INSEAD , the Paris - based business school where Astra 's middle managers get sent for a spot of polishing . The company 's INSEAD alumni have yet to prove their skills in an openly competitive market .
Idiom: on the stump (used idiomatically: no)
They make room for themselves to play strokes deflecting balls off the line of the stumps and deliberately playing ‘ educated edges’ through the now unpopulated slips area . They drive at good - length balls without getting to the pitch and loft strokes over the heads of the inner ring of fieldsmen . They still try to despatch the bad balls and the safety of quick singles often depends on the inability of the converging fieldsmen to make a direct hit on the stumps . Act Two , Scene Two : By this stage the fielding captain has been compelled to resort to his second and third string bowlers , keeping his main strike men back to stem the batting slog over the last 10 overs .
Idiom: in the nick of time (used idiomatically: yes)
Frank , meanwhile , is hanging from the back bumper . Soon he switches his grip to the exhaust pipe , which starts coming away . In the nick of time , a team of rugby players , passing in a coach , stop and pull the car — and Frank — to safety . The scene was filmed at Swanage , in Dorset , and was reminiscent of Buster Keaton hanging over a waterfall in the 1923 silent classic Our Hospitality . Although Crawford had two safety wires attached to him , he succeeded in holding on to the car during all the filming .
Idiom: tell tales (used idiomatically: yes)
Napoleon calculated that the stone from the three Giza pyramids would build a wall , three metres high , round the whole of France . Their size is only matched by the scale of human suffering which they represent . The pyramids were already 2,000 years old when Herodotus visited them in the middle of the fifth century BC , but he found the Egyptians still told tales of misery about their construction , the horrors suffered by the populace . The Egyptians could hardly bring themselves to mention the names of Cheops and Chephren , he reports , and preferred to call the pyramids after Philitis , a shepherd who tended his flocks in the area . Their long history as tourist attractions reveals the sad decline in standards of graffiti .
Idiom: feel the pinch (used idiomatically: yes)
Europe and America sold properties and companies from Hollywood to Sunderland to Japanese investors and turned increasingly to Tokyo 's bottomless pit to fund projects which could not be financed here . That cash is already drying up as Japan concentrates its resources at home . But as past foreign investment turns sour , including loans to projects such as London 's Canary Wharf , and domestic investment values fall , Japan 's banks — the largest in the world and once financiers to it — are feeling the pinch . Although the standards will not come into force until next year , most Japanese banks are either in breach of the Bank for International Settlements ' capital - adequecy ratios , or about to be . Not surprisingly , bank shares have led the stock market down .
Idiom: set eyes on (used idiomatically: yes)
What would Sue say if she could walk in here this minute ? No pin - ups , just pictures cut from magazines and stuck up on the wall in a kind of patchwork : pictures of lambs and cats and small puppies with ribbons round their necks , country cottages and the tropical beaches that went with advertisements for white rum , whose colours could n't possibly be real . No sea that Marion had ever set eyes on was that particular shade of transparent , light - filled turquoise . Pete 's sea , the sea around the oil - rig , was grey , surely , up there in the cold : metallic and swelling , full of menace , fog drifting over the water , wreaths of mist obscuring the long , iron joints , the hard angles sticking up out of the ice - cold darkness of the waves . I think of you every minute , Marion wrote .
Idiom: in black and white (used idiomatically: yes)
The Church of tomorrow Parish visiting by boat The pictures used here are available in poster form ( 45 by 30 cm ) in black and white . They are intended to help promoters and secretaries mount displays in church or school , and may be obtained from Eccleston Square . Posters shown in the Spring and Summer issues are also available .
Idiom: get lost (used idiomatically: yes)
Why are you talking ? Why are you talking in class ? Get lost to get the chop . Ben , Ben , Ben . What ?
Idiom: see eye to eye (used idiomatically: yes)
All four of the Titford brothers of this generation were in their early twenties on their wedding day — a reflection in itself of the fact that the average age at marriage for men was falling as the century wore on ; that average in the early 1700s had been as high as twenty - seven . John was 21 years old when he married Ann Oldbury on 15 June 1771 , three months to the day after the death of his father during that most vicious of winters . There are just the odd hints here and there that John and Ann did not always see eye - to - eye on religious matters . She appears not to have worshipped alongside her husband at the chapel ; he was a full member , and his daughters would later follow in his footsteps , but Ann never committed herself in quite that way . Then there is the baptismal entry at St John 's on Christmas Day 1773 : ' Sarah Titford , daughter of Ann ' .
Idiom: make light of (used idiomatically: yes)
She would feel quite different in the morning . But when morning came she still had to keep a firm hold on her feelings , especially when Joanna pressed her to describe her evening with Giles . She did her best to make light of it , describing in detail the dinner they had eaten , and only hesitated a little when it came to the stroll along the promenade . That , too , she managed to turn into a joke , while keeping back the unwelcome sighting of Robert . Finally she shrugged indifferently .
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: no)
Sentencing of Securitate generals The military section of the Supreme Court on May 10 sentenced 12 senior officers of the former Securitate secret police to prison terms of between 30 months and five years for " illegally detaining " and " abusively interrogating " protesters during the December 1989 revolution . Former Securitate chief Iulian Vlad , who was already serving a 3@1/2-year sentence handed down in March for a similar offence [ see p. 38108 ] , received a four - year sentence ( it was unclear whether the new sentence would run consecutively or concurrently ) . Former Interior Minister Tudor Postelnicu , who was already serving a life sentence for " co - authorship of genocide " [ see pp . 37252 - 53 ] , received five years . EUROPE
Idiom: bear in mind (used idiomatically: yes)
There is not so much variation at the front end of the flowering season as there is in autumn and winter , when some varieties and types show a marked reluctance to end their activities . Indeed , a few are notable for their apparent determination always to herald the New Year with a fresh bud ! That apart , we should bear in mind that roses vary greatly in their ability to bloom more or less continuously after the first flush . Those that do are described as perpetual flowering , and those that bloom in short repetitive bursts are called repeat , recurrent , or the French remontant . Many roses , especially the ramblers , have one single flush and no more .
Idiom: go the whole hog (used idiomatically: yes)
Everywhere I 've been , He 's a Scottie . Or he 's a p er Irishmen can be a Paddy and so on . And so I er never went the whole hog that way with thumping the British , British and best and so on . It could be and sometimes was , but i er the standard takes a lot of keeping up and er Much of the influence comes from newspaper and superior people implanting it on the population by reiterating these standards which often are wishful and they would like it to be so , but er They were hard days , they were hungry days . I was growing , but I 'm now , I never got much higher than about five foot one and I weighed eight stone for a many years .
Idiom: in full swing (used idiomatically: yes)
Golden Jubilee 1957 … some familiar faces , e.g. seated from left is Basil Peacock . A social was held on the Saturday night followed by an ‘ excellent cold meal served in a marquee on the lawn in front of the clubhouse , and then by country dancing to the ‘ Hambleden Hustlers’ who induced many of the company to join them . The lawn was illuminated by floodlighting and numerous fairy lights , a number of very large coloured umbrellas had been erected and when all was in full swing it made a very animated and enchanting picture . Later the company joined enthusiastically in general dancing to the music of Fred Lewendon and his Harlequins dance band.’ Charles Luker then gave a speech of reminiscences stressing the need to be grateful for ‘ those who had formed the Club and those who had kept it going for its first 50 years’ .
Idiom: babe in arms (used idiomatically: yes)
If Bootsy had a chin , it was not much in evidence and Matthew could see two distinct pimples beside his nose . Was this to be his destiny ? he wondered . Was he doomed to spend the rest of his working life watching babes in arms wheeling and dealing the way he used to ? Would he eventually be ousted by one of them , a toothless lion left to die of starvation while the rest of the herd loped off after game he could no longer compete for ? ‘ Who?’
Idiom: take no prisoners (used idiomatically: yes)
To the west , a group led by Bird Alighting seized Gibbon 's pack - train , destroying a mountain howitzer and capturing 20,000 rounds of Springfield ammunition . Joseph now urged his grieving people to strike their lodges . Gibbon had ordered his men to take no prisoners , and the Nez Perce women were crying for the dead , the children screaming from their pain . Yellow Wolf told how he found one tipi containing two women shot dead , one still clasping her newborn baby with its head smashed as by a gun breech or boot heel . In another , he found two other children , both killed .
Idiom: on the rebound (used idiomatically: yes)
Arms and legs splayed out — for the pictures . There 's a rush of wind , like sticking your head through a car sunshine roof at 70 mph . And then you 're going up again on a surprisingly gentle rebound . You stand upright in mid - air , weightless for a moment , then bounce down again , like a yo - yo about 100 ft up , and the crane winds you gently to the ground . Just another day at the office .
Idiom: out to lunch (used idiomatically: yes)
I did n't know Alec , but Salome 's virtually family , so I 'm after Cawthorne for that , yeah . But also —’ I flipped the keys a couple of times as I stood up —‘because I think he enjoyed doing it.’ I rang Sorrel 's flat from Sergeant Purvis 's desk , and as he was out to lunch I sat on it and rearranged his pencils in a petty and thoroughly satisfying bit of vandalism . Werewolf answered and said he was in the middle of cooking lunch as Sorrel was out . I hoped she knew to expect that her kitchen would look like a nuclear test site when she returned .
Idiom: with a vengeance (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ What the hell am I doing?’ he muttered thickly . Paige felt like crying . The world had returned with a vengeance . How could they soar so high one minute , then plumb the depths ? To glimpse paradise in his arms , yet know she could never enter …
Idiom: in the hole (used idiomatically: yes)
Oh where shall I put my five hundred ? Got a lot of , lot of room have I ? Just stick it in that hole there ! Ooh , get lost ! Three .
Idiom: run amok (used idiomatically: yes)
Basinger testified in the civil suit that no contract existed with Main Line Pictures Inc. and that she chose not to appear in the film , Boxing Helena , because she would have had to perform in graphic sex scenes . But Main Line contended it had reached a binding verbal agreement with Basinger , who was to have been paid £ 2 m ( 3 m dollars ) for six weeks ' work , and that she backed out of it four weeks before shooting was to begin in 1991 . Main Line 's lawyers said during a trial in state court that Basinger suffered from an ‘ ego run amok’ and that her backing out led to a year - long delay and a loss of between £ 3.3 m and £ 6.6 m . In the film , Helena is a woman who is rescued from a car accident by a doctor who then amputates her injured legs and unhurt arms and keeps her as a hostage in a box , hoping she will fall in love with him . After a three - week trial and two days of deliberations , the jury yesterday found that Basinger had committed breach of contract and awarded Main Line 8.9 m , which included general damages and compensation for the loss of her services .
Idiom: reinvent the wheel (used idiomatically: yes)
Consequently , I was not surprised in our seminar discussions to find myself directing more questions and raising more problems when we were talking about structure and discourse than when the focus was on lexis . Nor was I surprised that I often had to show the students how language use might be made meaningful . Learning by discovery does n't mean reinventing the wheel each time you need to move the wagon . Once the students had joined their TP schools on their weekly , one - day attachments , we were able to make their recounted experiences the starting point for the seminar work . This was not planned in any way ; it just happened .
Idiom: hit home (used idiomatically: yes)
All eight have concentrated on golf and travelled from one tournament to the next since leaving college , while only two of them , Cathy Gerring and Nancy Lopez have got married along the way . In other words , women 's professional golf is a career which calls for far more in the way of personal sacrifice than most are prepared to acknowledge . Another point to hit home was that in those cases where girls are prepared to give up everything to play on the Tour , they might as well do the job properly . The American circuit is nowadays so tough that its players mostly have no option but to work if they want to hang on to their players ' cards . They simply can not afford to sit back when , each year , some 300 youngsters are straining at the leash to get into their midst via the Qualifying Schools .
Idiom: under the sun (used idiomatically: yes)
Richard Ryder , the Party 's Chief Whip , told his deputy , David Heathcote - Amory , that they should meet for coffee in the conference centre at half - time . ' We shall have something important to discuss . ' Under an Indian sun , the crowd moved briskly along the prom , chattering about the events of last night ( ' You would have thought she 'd be too tired for that sort of thing ' ) and hoping , with an optimism undimmed by experience , that the day 's events would be as entertaining as they would be inspiring . John Patten was to reply to the debate on education and there was to be a debate on defence . Joshua Morris , who was not expecting Felicity to join him until late afternoon , determined to spend the morning wandering the streets of central Brighton .
Idiom: hear things (used idiomatically: no)
He carried on walking through the bodies , looking at the nurses . She was n't there . He must be hearing things . ‘ John.’ He heard it again .
Idiom: out of kilter (used idiomatically: no)
That is all well and good , but if separate nationhood is to be recognised when it comes to banding , the wishes of the separate nations should be heeded when it comes to the taxation that they want . The proposed tax will take no account of regional variations . It is clear that London is out of kilter with much of the rest of England , if not the whole of it . No hon . Member can pretend to be ignorant of London prices . After all , we all have to live in London in some form of property .
Idiom: throw the baby out with the bathwater (used idiomatically: yes)
As regards restoration , just as we would not dream of stripping out the original interior of the Blackfriar , by the same token we would not seek to preserve a Thirties estate pub which had long since ceased to address the needs of the community it was built to serve . It is in our interests as designers in this field to ensure that the ‘ pub tradition’ that we all hold so dear remains a living tradition . As was so chillingly illustrated by the postwar period of mass destruction and misconceived redevelopment , it is possible to throw the baby out with the bathwater . However , to entrap our pub tradition within a rigid set of rules and guidelines is at best to condemn it to becoming an anachronism , if not to extinguish it altogether . Arguably brewers are still as constrained by the profit motive as ever before .
Idiom: give something a miss (used idiomatically: yes)
But even Mr Hurd was loudly heckled as he insisted Maastricht was good for Britain . The seriousness was underlined when he warned : ' Our party could break itself over Europe with consequences which would deeply damage Britain and only bring comfort to our opponents . ' Let us decide to give that madness a miss . ' He warned there was no going back because to do so would make John Major 's word worthless abroad . WAVE OF SUPPORT : Tebbit greets delegates as he is given a standing ovation after his onslaught on John Major yesterday
Idiom: get the picture (used idiomatically: yes)
The room itself should be arranged to encourage the candidate to relax and talk freely . It should not always be necessary to stick to the traditional layout of interviewer behind a desk and candidate in a chair immediately in front , as if about to undergo an interrogation . Unless you want to intimidate the people you are seeing ( and you will get a less truthful picture of them if you do ) then consider conducting the interview in two fairly comfortable chairs placed at angles next to each other . A small table can be used for any notes , water , etc . If you think you will need to write during the interview then attach your notes to a clipboard .
Idiom: spill the beans (used idiomatically: yes)
They also revealed a new generosity of spirit , deciding that , if they carried on playing thus , they would win everything with such ease that the various English competitors would lose their sparkle . So , Bath surrendered a league point on the grounds that they had fielded an ineligible player , New Zealander Laurie Heatherley , against London Irish . And , no doubt , if ever John Hall discovers the identity of the anonymous benefactor who spilt the beans , he will want to shake him warmly by the hand and offer him thanks on behalf of his club and the good of all in English rugby . Even in Wales , where gloom and doom should have been the order of the next year or two , the clubs have set off in a style which has brought , instead , a nervous smile or two . Llanelli and Neath put on a show as good as anything seen for a long time at club level .
Idiom: full marks (used idiomatically: yes)
Hopefully , it will not be long before they return . Incidently , fine African sounds were played by the disco crew , Ritual Sound System , before and between sets . Also , full marks to the spontaneous half - time entertainment of gymnastics provided by the children in the audience . A NATIONAL arts development agency , which was based in the North - East , has collapsed with debts of £ 30,000 . The Arts Development Association organised conferences and courses throughout the country from its headquarters in Darlington .
Idiom: rock the boat (used idiomatically: yes)
The Liverpool Six — Professors Sir Alan Walters , Patrick Minford , Tim Congdon , Bill Martin , Gordon Pepper and Peter Warburton — aim to discourage Britain returning to the exchange rate mechanism . The free market Institute of Economic Affairs has taken them under their wing . ‘ Under their previous director Graham Mather the IEA was anxious not to rock the boat . Now under John Blundell they are becoming more outspoken,’ says an economist . Linda , Naomi and Claudia , the £ 9.99 supermodels
Idiom: point the finger (used idiomatically: yes)
She wants them to see the killer caught and tried . Securicor has now put up a reward of twenty five thousand pounds … The police hope such a large sum will tempt members of the criminal faternity to point the finger . So far they 've only recived one such call , and it was of little use . But dfetective hope today 's appeal from Mrs Letts will convince others to come forward .
Idiom: all along (used idiomatically: no)
‘ I put the gun in my pocket but I did n't go near the lounge . I took the painting and went through the cocktail bar and down the steps to the other deck and left the boat that way . It 's possible I knew subconsciously all along what I was going to do with the gun . Do you think it 's possible?’ Rain said she did not know .