Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: keep up appearances (used idiomatically: yes)
It can be so — certain women have a perpetual ‘ devouring’ quality — but it is a natural process , echoed in the menstrual cycle , and in the moon 's waxing and waning , and it can be used to positive effect , regulating the ebb and flow of relationships and opening up pathways of communication . We speak , after all , of ‘ drawing out’ a person , meaning encouraging his or her true feelings and thoughts to surface . The ‘ shape - changing’ can also be achieved through letting go of the normal ways of keeping up appearances . I mentioned earlier that the Queen of the Night can cut through conventions . When we choose to drop some of the social and individual details by which we are recognized , then we acquire a different form .
Idiom: economical with the truth (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ I am sure Lennie was quite embarrassed by all the speculation linking him with Spurs,’ Henderson said . Lawrence has proved a master of communication and a breath of fresh air to North - East sportswriters . Members of his profession are often economical with the truth . Lawrence is straightforward and honest . Lawrence , unlike many other top managers , also keeps the fans informed .
Idiom: have been around (used idiomatically: yes)
And each time it reminded her of her husband . Still the sadness weighed heavily in her heart ; she wondered if those precious dreams of what might have been would ever leave her alone . That teacher would have had a different attitude if Nader had been around . Ashi had no doubt the woman would have been as rapt at his polite charm and elegance as she herself had once been . And the teacher , too , might have made the same terrible mistake that she had made back in Teheran all those years before .
Idiom: at sixes and sevens (used idiomatically: yes)
Eventually Frankie and I were called in by Mum and told to get a wash and change as it was nearly time to go . But it was worse in our house than in the yard . We were all at sixes and sevens , getting in one another 's way . Mum and Mary kept calling for this , no that , yes that , to be brought upstairs . It was pandemonium .
Idiom: to the letter (used idiomatically: yes)
Shortly after I accepted Bantam 's offer , I got pneumonia . I had to have a tracheostomy operation that removed my voice . For a time I could communicate only by raising my eyebrows when someone pointed to letters on a card . It would have been quite impossible to finish the book but for the computer program I had been given . It was a bit slow , but then I think slowly , so it suited me quite well .
Idiom: take the biscuit (used idiomatically: yes)
Some Sharp models track the progress of the food as it cooks by assessing the moisture level . Teenagers 50 years on HAVE heard many stories of people running into old school friends after a number of years , but this one takes the biscuit . Betty McCaw , who lives out Templepatrick way , tells me she was in the electricity showrooms the other day when she happened to catch the eye of another woman in the queue . Recognition
Idiom: turn someone's head (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ I really do n't see how we can accommodate your dear grandmother at such short notice … ’ Matron plugged on . Then I realized most of the visitors and all the residents were watching me and I turned my head from side to side to see why I was getting that uncomfortable my - flies - must - be - open feeling . As ‘ Sally’ came level , we made eye contact and I smiled politely at her . The rubber wheels of the chair she was pushing squeaked on the tiled floor as she passed behind me and then I felt a hand on my inner left thigh .
Idiom: on the carpet (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ If it takes off in the States , the sky 's the limit,’ he says . The book centres on young blonde Donna , a crack shot with a .45 Magnum . Her husband dies in a car accident alongside another woman and driven by grief and jealousy , she investigates his secret life and becomes entangled with a rather nasty mystic group , some of whom are 400 years old and tend to drop rotting flesh and eyeballs on the carpet . You might expect the creator of such grisly images to be a bit of a ghoul himself but Hutson is a small , chirpy bloke who lives with wife Belinda in a new , mock - Tudor Bovis home in Milton Keynes , listens to heavy metal music and supports Liverpool . ‘ I do n't know why I 'm such a warped , twisted little git,’ he says .
Idiom: have a heart (used idiomatically: yes)
The 21-year - old had seized 58-year - old taxi driver Derek round the throat and grabbed his £ 68 takings . But as he turned to flee , Derek slumped at the wheel , clutching his chest . The worried crook grabbed Derek 's radio and called his bosses : ‘ I 've just robbed your driver and I think he 's having a heart attack.’ Then he told the astonished controller to call the police and an ambulance — and volunteered to sit with Derek until they arrived . Police found the remorseful robber desperate to give himself up .
Idiom: catch someone's eye (used idiomatically: yes)
Why not do likewise and build up your own record of your progress within the organisation ? What goes into that file is up to you . It is useful to start with a copy of the advertisement which originally caught your eye , for the reasons mentioned in Chapter 1 . Your application , CV , letter of appointment and job description all deserve to be kept , as well as any document containing contract terms or rules and procedures which affect you directly or indirectly . For later reference , preserve any written job appraisal forms .
Idiom: spring to mind (used idiomatically: yes)
Technological change is something that the personal computer industry is only too familiar with ; buy the latest home computer this week and it 's likely to be out of date within six months ! In some areas , though , changes are welcome , especially if they lead to a better and more reliable product . One area of the market that instantly springs to mind , or should it be hand , is that of the humble joystick . Indeed , since the subject was covered in Issue 3 ( p56 ) a completely new type of joystick has been launched onto the market . A conventional joystick uses a pair of potentiometers mounted at right angles to each other , the spindles being mechanically linked to a central knob .
Idiom: at the end of the day (used idiomatically: yes)
I 've told them to study them , watch how they approach games , conduct themselves and train . ‘ For example , Harford is an exceptional trainer . He never looks to have a rest and at the end of the day when we 've come in , he 's still out there practising . ’ Conviction Already Chelsea fans are talking with conviction about the club winning the championship for only the second time in its history .
Idiom: move the goalposts (used idiomatically: yes)
It 's being tackled from three angles : more efficient burning to reduce output at source , exhaust after - treatment and devising cleaner fuel . Research is driven by political directives . So when the USA moved the goalposts by setting still - lower targets for particulates and NOx , new avenues had to be explored . The NOx / particulate balance makes a difficult see - saw for diesel engine researchers to ride . Raising injection pressures brings particulates down but puts NOx up ; the same goes for many other design changes .
Idiom: it never rains but it pours (used idiomatically: yes)
They 'll meet West Bromich Albion in the Birmingham Senior Cup at the Stadium in Banbury . Kick off 7.30 . It never rains but it pours for Gloucester . Rugby in the mud is no fun , especially when you 're on the losing side , yet again . KEITH RICHARDSON / Gloucester Coach
Idiom: turn the corner (used idiomatically: no)
I tell you it is … it IS . ' A fanzine editor , noting Morrissey 's attendance , ploughed through the startled dancers and began to harangue our hero . Behind him a photographer leapt into action and flash after flash turned the normally darkened corner of The International into an impromptu photo call . The minder 's hand grasped the photographer 's shoulder . His voice rasped , firm but polite .
Idiom: change hands (used idiomatically: no)
And smart investors see future sales soaring , thanks to the Duchess of York 's poolside antics . ‘ They reckon sales will increase as new readers like the product they see,’ said media analyst Lorna Tilbian of brokers SG Warburg . Around 1.7 million shares changed hands — far more than during recent days — as the newspaper group stayed firmly in the media spotlight . THE recession has lead to record numbers of couples rowing about money problems , says Prudential . Three quarters of men now argue with their partners , against six out of 10 a year ago .
Idiom: on the nose (used idiomatically: yes)
DASA reckons Airbus is best suited to building large airliners , not small ones . How then does Boeing manage to make aircraft of all shapes and sizes ? DASA 's motives smack of industrial machismo and a desire to see its name on the nose of a jet . It already supplies Fokker with fuselages for Fokker 's small jet and could make that product its own by buying the Dutch company for less than $ 1 billion . But , as Eric Jan Nederkoorn , Fokker 's chairman - elect , observes , government money is not forthcoming to buy foreign companies , only to create German jobs .
Idiom: get a move on (used idiomatically: yes)
Do you remember everybody laughed about it ? Come on , Sam , let 's get going . If we get a move on , we 'll make the time up . I do n't think we should report it , do you?’ ‘ Not so likely,’ Sam agreed .
Idiom: blood is thicker than water (used idiomatically: yes)
But Miss Watson was determined that Agnes should now come first . She had been a loyal colleague for many years , respected by parents and children alike , and since the accident had proved a trusted friend and companion . All that stuff about blood being thicker than water , thought Miss Watson robustly , was a lot of eyewash ! She had had more help and affection from her dear old Agnes than ever Ray and Kathleen had shown her . It had to be faced , they were a selfish pair , and she had no intention of upsetting Agnes 's comfort , or her own , to save them a few pennies .
Idiom: game on (used idiomatically: yes)
Philippa was wearing a black kerchief which covered her hair and was tied at the nape of her neck , a knee - length black T - shirt and black straw sandals . From her right ear there dangled a long silver cascade of tiny orbs . She looked as if she could have stepped straight out of an urchin 's game on the street of a Northern Italian village or off the front cover of Vogue . She had been talking for several minutes about a party she had been to the previous evening . ‘ But they 're top - job people , you see , and they 're all in family units so they do n't understand , their minds are closed .
Idiom: with bated breath (used idiomatically: yes)
Like many of the the weddings entered into on whims at tawdry chapels along the Vegas Strip , it would be stretching a point to describe Holyfield - Bowe as a match made in heaven . But like those marriages , it should at least be fast and exciting while it lasts . Boxing and Las Vegas , joined in very unholy matrimony , are waiting with bated breath and heavily baited betting slips for the outcome of a fight that can be almost relied upon to restore some credibility to the heavyweight division . A genuine fight between two unbeaten men whom even the odds makers can hardly separate . Mike Tyson , in his brief , brutal reign as world champion , reduced the appeal of heavyweight title fights to that of watching an egg timer .
Idiom: call it a day (used idiomatically: yes)
like a dishcloth and a bike ride to Moelfre blackened our spines with a plume of dirt . After three sticky nights we called it a day . Take the camping weekend under Malham Cove : drunk with the effort of filling the air - beds
Idiom: turn someone's head (used idiomatically: yes)
Perkin with brotherly bossiness told him to stop kicking the table leg and Gareth uncharacteristically sulked . Mackie made a placatory remark and Perkin snapped at her too . She turned her head my way and with a frown asked , ‘ What 's wrong with everyone?’ ‘ Tension.’ ‘ Because of Harry?’
Idiom: with a will (used idiomatically: no)
Years after the event , an Indian revealed to Irwin 's Military Secretary that he was detailed to assassinate the viceroy on a visit to Lucknow , but , seeing his delightful smile when he got off the train , changed his mind . As for his goodness , the attempt to live a Christian life was so much a part of Irwin 's public persona that the legend became current that , arriving in India on Good Friday , he ignored the official ceremonies of welcome and went straight to church . He was brought up in an atmosphere of churchmanship , his revered father being a prominent layman who devoted his life to the reunification of the Anglican with the Roman church , and it was perhaps through him that he acquired what seems to have been an unconscious appreciation of the utility of goodness in public life ; one notes in his writings a tendency to equate prayer with will . There is a story told in his otherwise unrevealing autobiography which nicely illuminates the practical side of this pursuit of goodness . As a young back - bencher , Irwin dreamed one night of meeting Lloyd George in a train carrying them both back from campaigning at a bye - election .
Idiom: all things being equal (used idiomatically: yes)
The detailed plots for the South East ( not shown ) indicate the majority of rates , i.e. about eighty per cent , lie between £ 70–£90 per hour dual and £ 60–£77 per hour solo hire . There is , of course , no information available about which training organisations do the most business . In a free market , and all things being equal — which is not always the case in regard to quality of training , aircraft maintenance etc — the cheaper establishments should attract custom to the detriment of the more expensive ones . These latter would normally have to reduce their rates in order to remain competitive — or ultimately go out of business . That these same organisations apparently continue to do business suggests that either they do in fact offer something extra which the discerning customer wants , or that the demand is more elastic than one might expect , i.e. the average customer is not so very discerning after all and may have more money than sense .
Idiom: in the driving seat (used idiomatically: yes)
Allow us to make a suggestion . Test drive the stunning new CD Carlsson from Saab . Of course , you 'll be hooked from the moment you sit in the driving seat , but then there 's a problem . People may think you 're getting ideas above your already lofty station . And you did n't get where you are today by people thinking you 're getting ideas above your already lofty station .
Idiom: win the day (used idiomatically: yes)
It was a golden autumn in the hills about Antietam Creek . President Lincoln had his victory and 11,500 Northern soldiers and over 9,000 Southerners lay dead . General Robert E. Lee had almost won the day but had retreated to Virginia in spite of a final attack by the last of his reserves under General Hill . A few days later , on 22 September , President Lincoln would announce the Preliminary Emancipation of Slaves . It had all hinged on one of MacArthur 's Guard finding three cigars .
Idiom: as a rule (used idiomatically: yes)
Mr Seymour headed an inquiry into the Bellgrove crash but when his report was eventually published , it ignored many of the recommendations of a separate fatal accident inquiry into it . Sheriff Archibald McKay had recommended a system of ' double blocking ' which meant that drivers would have to pass two red lights before they could possibly collide with another train . That , Mr Seymour told the inquiry , he rejected as a general rule because it would have placed ' unreasonable restrictions ' on the railway . Sheriff McKay had also suggested altering timetables to space train movements further apart , but that too had been rejected by Mr Seymour . The sheriff had suggested that more detonators , designed to alert drivers if they passed red light , be installed .
Idiom: fall short (used idiomatically: yes)
Ratchets can operate either upward or downward and can take various forms . It is the terms for the conversion of the convertible redeemable preference shares that provide the mechanism whereby the interests of the management vary according to the company 's performance . These shares are held by the investors , and on the triggering of the ratchet — the achievement of certain projections or market capitalisation on a flotation , for example — all or some of the convertible redeemable preference shares will be redeemed ; but if the results fall short of what is expected then they will be converted into ordinary shares and as a result increase the investor 's share of the equity at the expense of the proportion held by management . The ratchet is invariably geared to the rate of return which the investors expect to receive on their equity and that usually depends on the expected market capitalisation of the company . When acting for management , it is important to ensure that the ratchet is not entirely geared to the vagaries of the stock market in the event of a flotation , but also reflects the profitability of the company .
Idiom: larger than life (used idiomatically: no)
is a story that will have to be told elsewhere . ) When pressure was eventually put on L.E.A.s in the 1950s to take over employment of the various county organisers whose salaries hitherto had been paid from Carnegie Trust funds , most authorities did so on condition that the organisers ' work should be extended to schools . Thus began an era when larger - than - life ' theatrical ' figures stalked the corridors of even our infant schools . Thus the ' real ' drama scene of community theatre at last infiltrated the schools system . Speech and Drama teachers found themselves gaining unexpected support from ' the authority ' .
Idiom: hear things (used idiomatically: no)
Every note had vitality , yet every note was joined to all the others . There were no tonal lacunae , not a hiatus all night . We could hear things in the score which usually we are obliged to seek out by eyes reading the score . Phrase ran beautifully into phrase , viola took on from violin , cello from viola without an obvious ‘ join’ . The double - basses were magnificent and capable of quite delicate shading .
Idiom: from rags to riches (used idiomatically: yes)
Without these , military power can not long be supported Duncan Sandys , 1957 Defence White Paper . This book is about Britain 's Defence policy in her post - imperial era , and is the sequel to my Withdrawal from Empire , published in 1986 , in which I looked through military eyes at the creation , development and eventual transformation of the Empire into the loosely - knit British Commonwealth . I used the analogy of a family that goes from rags to riches and back to rags in three or four generations . The first generation establishes the foundations of the family 's wealth ; the second and third develop and enjoy it ; and the fourth loses it , not necessarily through riotous living or altruism , but because times have changed and the foundations upon which their wealth was built have collapsed . It took Britain four centuries rather than four generations to complete the cycle .
Idiom: across the board (used idiomatically: yes)
Old man , I love you/but how can I tell you/your world is yesterday/mine is today . We sit together/not so often now/in restless silence/drinking beer/or watching football/like you and I were young . I love your calloused hands/they paid across the board /for my college education/yet its that same degree/that makes me a stranger/when I come to see you . Are you surprised at the world 's loss of memory/Still the spirit of the old/is born in their young/The apples fall not far away/from the family tree . Paraphrase of Papal Bulls & English Muffins written by Joe McCarthy .
Idiom: work wonders (used idiomatically: yes)
They discuss any problem cases with their hospital social worker each week , occupational therapists routinely make home visits before discharge , and if minor adaptations are needed a hospital technician will do them . Nevertheless , there are delays in discharge at the moment , often caused by silly things like a lack of commodes , and the nurses worry that if everything has to be in place before discharge then there will be more delays . But the blame is always with the system , not the individuals : ‘ We 're lucky with our social worker — she works wonders,’ said one of the sisters . The strongest criticism I heard came from Dr Alistair Brewis , consultant chest physician and medical director of the Royal Victoria Infirmary . Not realising that the documents on discharge and assessment had been produced in a hurry to meet the government 's suddenly imposed deadline of 31 December , he criticised the two weeks he had been given to consult his 200 consultant colleagues .
Idiom: get the better of (used idiomatically: no)
There was not much evidence of regret among the writers who then decided to rewrite democratic theory in order to incorporate the central elitist proposition . Without always being as explicit as writers like Lippmann , it seemed that most of them were content to redefine democracy in such a way as to eliminate its traditional popular participatory aspirations . They were thus able to get the best of both worlds . They could claim to be defending democracy while simultaneously denouncing the very tendencies and aspirations which had led their less sophisticated predecessors to condemn or criticize democracy as such . Probably the most influential text in the development of the modern elitist theory of democracy ( or , alternatively , theory of democratic elitism ) was Joseph Schumpeter 's Capitalism , Socialism and Democracy ( 1942 ) .
Idiom: come to terms with (used idiomatically: yes)
Black sportsmen are not exceptional in so far as they too undergo the turbulence of having to refashion their ideas about career and , indeed , life prospects at around this age . Jackie Jackson , a girl shot putter whose parents were Jamaican , put it like this : ‘ No matter what they say , all black kids go through a phase when they want to be white … And when they come to terms with the fact that they are n't , they have to think of the possibilities.’ Those possibilities are seen as restricted and , although many would not agree with Jackson 's controversial view that all blacks go through stages of white envy , all would appreciate the point that blacks resign themselves to more limited prospects . Whether or not blacks ' career prospects are blighted by covert racialist policies in the occupational sphere is not the question under consideration .
Idiom: take someone's word for it (used idiomatically: yes)
Angry indignation laced her voice , but he appeared unmoved . ‘ Maybe you 're pure and white as the driven snow , but you have to face the fact that there must be some reason why those men waylaid you . Listen , I know their sort , and take my word for it that they 're professionals . They do n't go around trying to frighten people just for pleasure . Someone paid them good money , a lot of money , to do that — this so - called ‘ friend’ they mentioned — so if I were you I 'd be trying to work out who he is rather than getting on my soapbox .