Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: rare bird (used idiomatically: yes)
I had n't ridden a bicycle in thirty years and was none too confidently negotiating the potholes , when suddenly an incredible - looking blue - black bird with a ridiculously long tail flew across the track — and I rode straight into the ditch ! Recovering my composure , if not much dignity , I followed the bird through the trees and came on a female ( which lacks the long plumes and has a chestnut back and tail ) which appeared to be nest - building almost above our heads . The pair ignored us completely and gave us superb views of yet another extremely rare endemic bird of the Seychelles . By now I was enjoying the hot , sunny weather , but , alas , time was running out , and the last few days were spent back on Mahe . The Seychelles kestrel had so far eluded me , but I met an English birder while I was trying again to photograph waders in the harbour of Victoria , and he told me a pair had nested in one of the church towers in the town .
Idiom: take the plunge (used idiomatically: yes)
WEDGWOOD Rooms staff hopped into action to promote the centenary of Peter Rabbit and the new items specially introduced to the Wedgwood range . Dingles at Exeter staged a fun event with staff dressing as rabbits to give away badges , sweets , pencil sets , a Peter Rabbit video and even carrot cake . Manager Jean Cundy and her assistant Cherrie Elliott took the plunge and dressed as rabbits for the day , which was hailed as a great success . New appointments at Johnson Bros FOLLOWING the re - organisation and integration of Johnson Brothers , Wedgwood U.K. sales director Paul Hutchinson takes over full sales responsibility for Johnson Brothers .
Idiom: sleight of hand (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Better than English Stahlhelm,’ he said . Ever since I had been taken prisoner I had found the presence of German helmets fascinating . They were continual concrete evidence of the sleight of hand which had conjured me from one world to another . Now it was the English helmet which belonged to the world of the news reel . The Feldwebel suddenly pulled the helmet sideways over one eye and began to sing in English :
Idiom: all the rage (used idiomatically: yes)
Nutty thought . All that pent - up rage , kicking the bicycle rack … but proper competitors were supposed to be aggressive . If Nails really decided to beat Greycoats and co he would turn all that rage into beating them . The sparks would fly then ! If he really hated them , nothing would stop him .
Idiom: sing the praises of (used idiomatically: yes)
I have not yet had time to study the minutiae of the Bill which , as we now know , runs to 163 pages , but I want to touch briefly on certain parts of it . The great problem with the poll tax was the collection procedures . I am not slow to sing the praises of the city of Nottingham , and there are good grounds for doing so . However , in devising its method of collecting poll tax , in the words of that famous song,’ If there was a wrong way to do it , the right way to screw it,’nobody did it like Nottingham . My constituents have had to pay an additional £ 44.75 per adult because of that incompetence , and that is a disgrace .
Idiom: get the better of (used idiomatically: no)
The problem is that light - coloured garments tend to show the dirt rather quickly , and lose their lustre . From that point of view , the colours you offer are sensible . But it is possible to get the best of both worlds with a garment which is mostly dark , but has bright patches incorporated at strategic points . Some manufacturers put reflexive strips at front and back , but even more important are the sides , because cyclists are very vulnerable to vehicles emerging from side turnings or entering roundabouts . Additional patches are therefore needed on the shoulders or at the top of the arms .
Idiom: get it up (used idiomatically: yes)
I 'm not even gon na squeeze it . Leave it Sheila , I 'll do it in a minute . She might have it up there but I 've got it up there . Here y'are . Only , that takes a touch of the old .
Idiom: go public (used idiomatically: yes)
( Morris and Burgoyne , 1973 ) . The Family Model The difficulty of this model is that in actuality some businesses are still run by families , and a good deal more have started as family enterprises but , in time , have gone public . Very often in such cases older managers and workers can recall the times when the business was run by the family . There is , therefore , a coincidence between lived reality and the construct held in the mind ; unlike the Military Model which constructs reality in terms of the metaphor .
Idiom: take the plunge (used idiomatically: no)
WITH one bound , a bride and groom found out about the ups and downs of married life — just after saying : ' I do ' . Immediately following their vows , the newly - weds dived head - first 170 ft towards the Atlantic ocean … fastened to a bungee rope . The bride , in a white wedding gown , and the groom , in a tuxedo , clung tightly to each other as they took the terrifying plunge . Their ankles were harnessed to an elastic cord , which bounced them back up before they could hit the sea . But still Timothy Ful Cher , 31 , kept his arms firmly wrapped around Nony Tedjakasume as they dangled upside down above the water .
Idiom: in the clear (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah , but even on that you see , yo yo you know , yo you 're never really stuck with it I mean No . , once you 're in the clear you really it 's the silliest in the world to have a little actually . Yeah . Yes , that 's right .
Idiom: hit the road (used idiomatically: no)
He says it could be randomn . Anything to warn the pupils of the risks they run . Well it 's time now to hit the road with the London Sydney car marathon . It 's been a week of triumph and tragedy . As Tim Russon reports from India in spinning the globe …
Idiom: split the difference (used idiomatically: yes)
I also designed the neck joint . The two usual options are either a big block , like on the back of a Strat , which is really hard to deal with , or there 's nothing , because they 've sanded it all away . So I split the difference . I used clay — I put my palm in clay to get the natural contours of my hand . Although my hand may be bigger than a lot of people 's , it 's still a hand — it 's not a block of wood .
Idiom: under the influence (used idiomatically: yes)
Thinking about things like er the Donovan Commission in nineteen sixty eight , did that in any way have any influence , I mean that looked quite closely at er the state of local bargaining . Did that in any way influence you as a convenor ? Well I think that er er as I said previously , that erm the engineering industry erm for many years , er was under the influence of national wage negotiations . Erm in the nineteen fifties and right up until I became a full time official , erm there was generated an opinion that if companies were financially well off , due to the effort of the employees , then there was some formal entitlement for employees in these particular undertakings , to put forward a separate claim at domestic level , to , to enhance their pay . And erm well this became more or less the policy of the union .
Idiom: point the finger (used idiomatically: yes)
Routine Her devastated husband Robin , an engineer , said : ‘ If her work was a factor , it was only one among others . I do n't want to point the finger at anyone.’ The report by Education Department inspectors , based on a routine inspection carried out in May last year , criticised the school , highlighting ‘ major deficiencies requiring urgent attention’ . Among the weaknesses revealed in the report was the lack of planning in the school 's curriculum for children between Primary One and Primary Three — for which Mrs Cochrane was responsible .
Idiom: stroke of luck (used idiomatically: yes)
The defence looked sound , and very similar to the formation played at Coventry . Only problem was , and far be it for me to dampen any thrashing of another team , was that Wimbledon were allowed to play for a good bit in the second half and could have come back . The penalty seemed pretty clear - cut and it was a stroke of luck that they 'd just substituted Fashanu as he is their usual penalty taker ( pretty reliable from what I can recall ) . It was left to Vineyard who put it wide of the post . As Macca said on Grandstand ‘ we played in spurts’ .
Idiom: short shrift (used idiomatically: yes)
This has a dramatic effect on the health and appearance of the plants . Watering with a hose pipe does n't take long and weeding as a task hardly exists . I asked about feeding , but Bill makes short shrift of this too — once a fortnight with Phostrogen . Another question I asked was how Bill learnt his gardening skills . Like so many of us , he learnt from his parents , his mother to be precise , who was a keen gardener .
Idiom: follow in someone's footsteps (used idiomatically: yes)
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’ . This might be an illegitimate birth of some kind , as it seems to be , or possibly just evidence of John and Ann 's first child .
Idiom: in full swing (used idiomatically: yes)
He wanted their gardener , Piet Kaufman , to pose holding a spade , and if possible in his own garden or in a field where he would feel more natural , but the fellow objected . He insisted on wearing his Sunday best for such an important occasion , and as a mark of deference to the young master . Have pity on these small miseries of the draughtsman 's life , Vincent wrote humorously to Theo , adding proudly that ‘ The factory is in full swing’ . He was now churning out drawings at a tremendous rate . Like Hokasai , the old man mad about drawing , he drew everything in sight , insatiably .
Idiom: hard cheese (used idiomatically: yes)
CHEESEMAKING NOW The Old - fashioned Way The revival of small - scale farmhouses cheeses and the subsequent interest in these individual products has been brought about partly by the farmers ' need to cut the amount of milk that they send to the Milk Marketing Board and partly by the public 's demand for ‘ real’ cheeses with traditional texture and flavour . I was lucky enough to join the makers of Gospel Green , a Sussex - made hard cheese , to watch the cheesemaking in process . Here is a true marriage of traditional methods and equipment with modern health and hygiene requirements — their vat , tools and press are old equipment that was purchased from an elderly cheesemaker some twenty years ago , together with the recipe for the cheese . I had a relatively easy morning , joining James and Cathy Lane once the 409 litres ( 90gal ) of Friesian milk was in the vat in the dairy at 7.30am ( they had risen at 5.30 to do the milking ) .
Idiom: by heart (used idiomatically: yes)
Stavrogin asks the bishop ( in cool reason a preposterous question ) if he has read the Christian Apocalypse . He then directs him to the message to the angel of the church at Laodicea in the third chapter of Revelation . Tikhon knows the passage by heart and recites it word for word . Its burden is : I know thy works , that thou art neither hot nor cold : I would that thou wert hot or cold .
Idiom: hold the line (used idiomatically: no)
' Er — ' Jinny looked down at the dial . ' — Ashdale 623X ' ' Hold the line , please . ' The ringing began again and Jinny covered the mouthpiece . ' What is it ?
Idiom: in the long run (used idiomatically: yes)
But he is not sanguine about the ability of the culture of contentment to see beyond its nose . Nor , I fear , is this reviewer . But we have to keep on trying : in the long run more generous social provision , and a return to more enlightened economic policies , are in the self - interest of even Contented of Basildon . Is that all there is ? A HISTORY OF THE MIND Nicholas Humphrey Chatto & Windus , £ 16.99 Marek Kohn
Idiom: for the time being (used idiomatically: yes)
" Wasted costs " means any costs incurred by a party as a result of any improper , unreasonable or negligent act or omission on the part of any legal or other representative , including their employees , or any costs which , in the light of any such act or omission occurring after they were incurred , the court considers it is unreasonable to expect that party to pay ( s 51(7 ) ) . Secondly , and more specifically , where a person has commenced proceedings in the High Court but those proceedings should , in the opinion of the court , have been commenced in a county court in accordance with any provision made under s 1 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 or by or under any other enactment , the person responsible for determining the amount which is to be awarded to that person by way of costs must have regard to those circumstances ( s 51(8 ) ) . Where , in complying with s 51(8 ) , the responsible person reduces the amount which would otherwise be awarded to the person in question , the amount of that reduction must not exceed a prescribed percentage ( for the time being 25 per cent ) and on any taxation of the costs payable by that person to his legal representative , regard must be had to the amount of the reduction ( s 51(9 ) ) . The trial judge in proceedings which were commenced in the High Court and subsequently transferred to the county court is entitled to express the opinion referred to in s 51(8 ) ( b ) that the proceedings he is trying should have been commenced in the county court . Where he does so the court associate must , at the conclusion of the trial , record that opinion in his certificate so that an appropriate reduction may be considered ( Ord 35 , r 10A ) .
Idiom: fly in the face of (used idiomatically: yes)
His judgment attracted a considerable degree of academic criticism . I have to say that I find this criticism surprising since , as I have already said , the section is in my judgment clear , unambiguous and limited in its scope . One writer went so far as to say that this construction ‘ flies in the face of the settled interpretation of this provision.’ Counsel were unable to suggest any case which may have settled the interpretation of the section other than Gillick 's case , and to that I now turn . The issue in Gillick 's case was stated by Lord Fraser of Tullybelton in the following terms [ 1986]A.C. 112 , 165 :
Idiom: no peace for the wicked (used idiomatically: yes)
There is no peace says my God for the wicked . That 's the word of God through Isaiah the prophet . There is no peace for the wicked . For the person who rejects and spurns God . Who , wants to go through life by themself . , does n't mean to say that all the kind of life is one big storm , not at all !
Idiom: in the red (used idiomatically: yes)
A dog is near a ball colored in red , which is in the air
Idiom: on the house (used idiomatically: yes)
Oh . Mm . Erm but will you make , be able to make much profit on the on your old Chiswick house to be able to buy the Weybridge one , will that be an economic move ? Erm we save quite a lot er which is what we 're trying to do , yes . Oh good , yes .
Idiom: spot on (used idiomatically: yes)
It has to shed its skin four or five times to allow it to grow bigger . Then it is time for it to find a suitable spot to turn into a chrysalis . The word chrysalis is Greek for ‘ gold’ and was given because many chrysalises have gold spots on them to disguise them . eggs caterpillar chrysalis THE CHRYSALIS
Idiom: by heart (used idiomatically: yes)
In studying these to find their causes we need to have done some natural philosophy , because these motions of the mind have their causes in sense and imagination . Just as Hobbes rejects Descartes 's view of sense - perception as having to do with an immaterial mind , so his moral philosophy is purely materialistic , and appeals only to the idea of matter in motion . Hobbes had learnt from his scientific hero , Harvey , that one of the motions in the body is that of the blood circulated by the heart . Like Harvey , he took the heart to be ' the original of life ' , and of crucial importance . It is ' the fountain of sense ' , for , by the ' vital motion ' it produces , it governs what we perceive , think , feel , and desire .
Idiom: in the driving seat (used idiomatically: yes)
Rights But Mr Clarke scorned Labour leader John Smith 's speech to TUC delegates earlier this week . ‘ The sort of people John Smith was winding up at the Trade Union Conference about a return to a Golden Age , when they were back in the driving seat and great rights for their members , and a friendly government again — some of those people are beginning to make noises . ‘ But I think the average employee in the public sector , who has a job , knows perfectly well that , in the public services nowadays , you have to accept the same sensible level of settlements that people do outside , where things are going hard . ‘ We have got to get used to a climate in which Britain is now in control of inflation .
Idiom: turn someone's head (used idiomatically: yes)
He turned his head towards the door of the living - room so as to observe the women when they came back .
Idiom: in the soup (used idiomatically: no)
This is the harsh reality of ' ethnic cleansing ' — Europe 's version of apartheid Two brothers were reunited amid the misery of a Croatian refugee camp yesterday and celebrated as best they could … by sharing a bowl of scraps . The meagre rations — two lumps of meat and a few strands of pasta in thin soup — were to last them both for the whole day . All around , thousands of their compatriots waited in pitiful food queues as the stench of raw sewage hung over Trnopolje . Nijaz and Sead Hukanovic had feared they might never see each other again after being parted in the savage purge of Bosnians callously dubbed ' ethnic cleansing ' by the Serbs .
Idiom: up to scratch (used idiomatically: yes)
I do n't know the full system but you are being evaluated and tested the whole time . But the testing period the testing period is two years . Within that two years , any time within that two years you can basically be given the sack for not coming up to the grade or not coming up to scratch or sometimes they prolong your pr probation for another six months so instead of being a probationer constable for two years you 're a probationer constable for two and a half years . Yeah ? Yeah , thank you .
Idiom: in the short run (used idiomatically: yes)
This narrative – the standard Keynesian line , modified for a debt crisis – is the one to which most government officials , central bankers , and Wall ~ Street economists have subscribed , and needs little elaboration . Its virtue is that it gives policymakers something clear to do , with promised returns that match the political cycle . Unfortunately , despite past stimulus , growth is still tepid , and it is increasingly difficult to find sensible new spending that can pay off in the short run . Attention is therefore shifting to the second narrative , which suggests that the advanced economies ’ fundamental capacity to grow by making useful things has been declining for decades , a trend that was masked by debt - fueled spending . More such spending will not return these countries to a sustainable growth path .
Idiom: open someone's eyes (used idiomatically: yes)
He half opened his eyes and saw the Jewish inscription just above him , much overgrown , but still quite recognizable .
Idiom: in the short run (used idiomatically: yes)
There are a number of problems with the PPP theory . For instance , most price - level indices include goods and services that are not traded internationally . Also , transport costs , tariffs , sluggish price adjustments , and so on , reduce the degree to which exchange rates reflect relative price levels in the short run . We can think of PPP as being a theory of the long - run determination of exchange rates . In the short run , however , other factors are likely to have a more important influence on the course of exchange rates .
Idiom: get the better of (used idiomatically: yes)
He was doing things I 'd never even read about . And it was for my benefit — to show what he was about to do to me . For the first time ever , my pride got the better of me and I desperately looked round for some means of defending myself . If there had been a loose lamp - post in sight I probably would have grabbed that . There was nothing .
Idiom: right up your street (used idiomatically: yes)
Come on Quigley , pull yourself out of it ! Deal with the situation ! This sort of thing should be right up your street . Think of the articles . Think of all the hands - on psychical research that is just coming at you free of charge .
Idiom: on someone's mind (used idiomatically: yes)
The totter need not have worried . The animal was struggling with a loose shoe and was in no mood to break into a trot . Broomhead Smith had other things on his mind besides the horse . He had been accosted only recently by an irate Aggie Temple when he drove his cart into Page Street , and now he had to steer clear of the little turning until he could fulfil his promise to get the woman a genuine tomcat mouser which had been doctored . The trouble was , the transport yard in Page Street was a good place to pick up bits and pieces of worthwhile scrap .
Idiom: above board (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah but what Well I mean what difference does it , what difference does it make ? Yeah but if you do it above board I ca n't see Well it 's just that the cash is ah no , that 's what I 'm saying . But they , you got ta have I mean I could say oh I paid erm what shall I say erm off the top of my head , what can I think ?
Idiom: take a dive (used idiomatically: no)
He ground the sugar into a powder , mixed it with water and with his daily handful of flour , adding a little curry powder to give it a spicy taste : then he grilled the result on a flat stone beside the fire . He also bought a teaspoonful of tea from one of the artillery women for ten pounds , to be paid after the siege was over or , in case of death , by his executors to certain of her relations ; to lend substance to this rather nebulous arrangement which at first only seemed to excite the suspicion of the woman selling the tea , Fleury had drawn up an elaborate letter which began impressively : " To Whomsoever May Find This Missive , I , George Fleury , Being Then Deceased , " and which seemed to Fleury to give a certain legal solemnity to the transaction . Thus provisioned , he invited Louise to come to the banqueting hall to celebrate her birthday , though in a very quiet way , he assured her ; he had not forgotten that she must still be suffering on account of her father , who had only recently taken his last dive down the well in the Residency yard in the wake of so many of his former patients . Fleury 's cakes had not turned out very well ; in fact they had dried as hard as the stone they were baked on , and had to be chipped off with a bayonet . But even so , Louise was so hungry that she stared at them with a fearful concentration , ignoring Fleury 's polite conversation as he made the tea .
Idiom: grind to a halt (used idiomatically: yes)
The Rev Awdry is proud that railwaymen have written to him , praising the accuracy of the Thomas the Tank engine books . And he says that is why he finds it so galling that one episode in the new series has trees growing right up to the line , which would never happen and describes how one of the engines used to stop to enjoy the view . He says if trains stopped like that , the whole network would grind to a halt : Male speaker His stories are all based on real life episodes on the railways .