Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: hit home (used idiomatically: yes)
During 1992 , everyone seemed to be Doing It , though generally not with their partners . Mick Jagger , David Mellor , Michael Winner , and many other middle-aged , ego-tripping men who look as if they 'd need a Zimmer frame to get a leg-up and a miracle to get it over . It 's only when you can put a famous face to sexual activity that the preposterousness of the whole event really hits home and even if that does n't stop you from participating ever again , it will certainly put you off meat for 24 hours . BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SEXUAL BEING : Woody Allen , for ridding himself of the insipid waif and compulsive adopter Mia Farrow by bedding her adopted daughter Egg Foo Yong , or whatever her name was . Sharing a duvet with Mia must have been like sleeping with Unicef .
Idiom: Bob's your uncle (used idiomatically: no)
Well , with the coffee it 's all a matter of putting the sugar in first and stirring well . That increases the surface tension on the top of the coffee — or is it the specific gravity?— so that when you dribble the cream slowly down over the back of the spoon it stays on the top.’ ‘ And Bob 's your uncle , so to speak?’ said the inspector , paying unconscious tribute to an old nepotism . ‘ It worked,’ said Henry . ‘ Whether it distracted everyone else long enough to slip five drops of something into Mrs Iverson 's coffee , I would n't know , Inspector.’
Idiom: make light of (used idiomatically: yes)
What a mess ! I never thought I 'd live to see the day when a detective inspector would look like this.’ I was too involved in the capture and too tired to do other than make light of his comment . In the same way I was unable to do much else but grin and bear it when my then assistant chief constable ( crime ) , Ken Oxford ( later to be the chief constable of Merseyside ) implicitly restated police concepts of correct bodily order , when he jokingly told a group of visiting journalists who had come to do a story on this wayward group of detectives , ‘ we pay him a plain clothes allowance you know’ . There were few terms of reference for our operations and no previous squad activity to base our actions on .
Idiom: crystal clear (used idiomatically: no)
Our destination was constituency 54 , Teland Usan , the remote rainforest home of Kayan and Penan peoples , where a Kayan called Harrison Ngau was campaigning in the Sarawak state elections on a controversial anti - logging ticket . But all I could think was , would we be allowed to film him ? Sarawak is a secretive , carefully controlled state , and out film permit from Kuala Lumpur was crystal clear : ‘ Any comments on Malaysia must represent the official views of the Malaysian government … Issues on racial sensitivities can not be touched upon … ’ Would we be thrown out if we gave too much exposure to a rebel like Harrison , or if we showed the true extent of the logging ?
Idiom: watch this space (used idiomatically: yes)
But Nikki has promised she will be back . With great hopes for the future , Nikki , a former aerobics and fitness teacher , is keen to encourage all her former pupils to look out for her when she comes back . ‘ We leave on September 11 , but watch this space , I 'll be back!’ she promised . If anyone would like to help Nikki with sponsorship for her course , she can be contacted on Belfast 705524 . Keeping their heads well above water was one of the teams in the Flogas Raft Row in aid of Mencap and the Northern Ireland Hospice .
Idiom: second nature (used idiomatically: yes)
And that figure paints a misleadingly rosy picture . As he points out : ‘ There is a huge number that break even or do worse.’ He is in no doubt about the reasons : ‘ Lack of marketing awareness , a lack of technological awareness , and a lack of financial control which would be second nature in most industries.’ A key issue for Mr Charkin is , of course , the long - running saga of the NBA . Resale price maintenance now exists for only two commodities in the UK : over - the - counter medicines — and books .
Idiom: on the ropes (used idiomatically: yes)
His hands , however , were so frozen he could not hold on or get back . He called out : ‘ I ca n't hold on any longer,’ then fell straight on the ledge below , bounded out into the air , turning a somersault backwards , and pitching on to a grass projection some 30′ lower down … At the exact moment that he hit the grass the strain came on the rope . If this had not happened nothing could have stopped him and the whole party would have been dragged down after him . Sheer luck had saved us.’
Idiom: fall on stony ground (used idiomatically: yes)
Often she had to work so hard to overcome her paralysing shyness that what she had to say burst out in a shout , or in a tone of great fierceness . After a term , she was grudgingly admitted by the flyers in the group to be worth reckoning with — though very odd . Alan 's charming smile fell on stony ground with her . She was uncompromisingly hostile to him , which piqued and fascinated him . She was unreceptive to any of the signals he sent out .
Idiom: under the influence (used idiomatically: no)
The fact that Cavtat was later known as Ragusavecchia ( Old Ragusa ) supports the view that some of the town 's early inhabitants originated in Cavtat . For the purposes of the present work , it is sufficient to know that by the end of the seventh century a town inhabited mainly by people of Latin culture existed on the site , and that the surrounding countryside was peopled by Slavs . In the early ninth century , when northern Dalmatia was brought under the influence of the Holy Roman Emperor , Charlemagne , Ragusa and southern Dalmatia were included in the Byzantine sphere . The city was fortified and was able to repel raids by pirates and a siege by the Saracens in 866–7 . Already at this time Ragusa 's influence as a trading centre was being felt throughout the Mediterranean .
Idiom: open someone's eyes (used idiomatically: yes)
Alice shook her head . " Is anything the matter , child ? " Irena had opened her eyes . " No , Grandmother . " " Will you play the piano for us , Louise ? "
Idiom: in the red (used idiomatically: no)
On both these pages , in red , at top right , was the word ' Transgenic ' followed by two or three exclamation marks . That did n't mean much either . Lower down , one reference to Professor Bamforth had his name circled in red and a red line led off to the margin and another hand - drawn red circle . In that was a plus sign , followed by ' GB , P. & L. ' and the ' L'had been underlined twice . There was also the notation of a date , the 31st of the 12th month .
Idiom: on the shelf (used idiomatically: yes)
At one of them sat the men who , she was sure , had jeered at her from the wall beside the petrol pumps and were now slapping down playing cards and shouting Ventidue ! with much of their remaining strength . Behind the bar the wall was decorated with postcards of the Pope and the Madonna . On a shelf stood wilting plants and very small stuffed animals , squirrels and starlings which had fallen victim to the chase . Their table was close to the door of the toilette from which came the smell of urine mixed more faintly with disinfectant . ' Naturally , I feel curious about the people who own such a splendid house . '
Idiom: save face (used idiomatically: yes)
Now let Dr McNab justify his curious treatments , or lack of them , if he can . " Dr McNab was silent for such a long time that even those of his supporters who had remained steadfast throughout Dr Dunstaple 's persuasive arguments and had not yet crossed his name from their emergency cards , began to fear that perhaps he had nothing to say . It surely could not be that McNab was confounded , utterly at a loss , for surely almost anyone could string a few medical terms together ( enough to convince the survivors of Krishnapur if not the Royal College of Physicians ) and save face . But still the silence continued . McNab 's head was lowered and he seemed to be pondering in a lugubrious sort of way .
Idiom: with a view to (used idiomatically: yes)
European Community ( EC ) commissioner Abel Matutes stated that such economic co - operation demonstrated the EC 's determination to balance assistance to East European countries with that to developing regions elsewhere [ see also p. 37132 ] . Group of Eight meeting The Group of Eight ( G-8 ) Latin American debtor countries ( Argentina , Brazil , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , Uruguay , Venezuela and Panama — the last having been expelled , however , on March 30 , 1990 — see p. 37373 ) meeting in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires on Dec. 4 - 5 , 1989 , issued the Buenos Aires Declaration , under which the Foreign Affairs and Economic and Planning Ministers agreed to meet every six months with a view to establishing a Latin American common market by 1992 . The G-8 countries agreed to adopt measures to reduce intra - regional trade tariffs , to eliminate other non - tariff barriers and a pledge to " begin a progressive co - ordination of macroeconomic policies " to facilitate Latin American integration . Inter - regional trade tariffs
Idiom: to the tune of (used idiomatically: yes)
Maybe not , but Americans will certainly find global hegemony a lot more expensive if the dollar falls off its perch . Until now , Americans have been raking in profits by borrowing cheaply from pliant foreigners and investing the money in high - yield foreign equities , land , and bonds . Counting capital gains , Americans have profited to the tune of $ 300~billion to $ 400~billion annually in many recent years – an amount roughly equivalent to the entire US military budget . Former French president Valéry ~ Giscard d’Estaing once famously complained about America ’s “ exorbitant privilege . ” D’Estaing was incensed that the US seemed to be able to flood the world with dollar currency and debt without ever seeming to pay a price in terms of higher inflation or interest rates .
Idiom: strike a chord (used idiomatically: yes)
And with two TV networks now competing for a UK cable channel , a similar service is set to take off here by the year 's end . ( For a more direct line , UK country fans might soon be able to fly non - stop from Stansted to Nashville , if a Tennessee congressman has his way . ) Even without much airplay , kd lang managed to strike a chord with country fans around the world . Her own voice and word of mouth were enough to outmanoeuvre the rock stations , which shunned her steel guitars , and the country stations , which gave her sexual persona a wide berth . But it was her vocal anti - meat stance that turned the country establishment 's down - home snub into redneck outrage .
Idiom: take liberties (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Polite’ features large in Young 's description of his working life . Early on he learned — the hard way — that it was the passport to success . Inside a restaurant , he would never photograph anyone without permission : ‘ I never take liberties ; if it 's not cool , I do n't do it.’ On the street , however , people are fair game . ‘ Although if I knew them and I wanted a nice picture — smiling , arms around each other— I would call out to them , but not before I reached the third frame.’
Idiom: my bad (used idiomatically: yes)
It took me quite a few years to realize that my timing was terrible — the repercussions of being born then were enormous . Old enough to be frightened by the war , but too young to be involved . Even afterwards , when I was a teenager , I paid for my bad timing , coming just too early to enjoy the fun and freedom that waited round the corner . When I was six years old , my sister Pat eight , and my younger brother Alan three , war broke out . At school they made us try on gas - masks for size , and there was talk of evacuation .
Idiom: under a cloud (used idiomatically: yes)
The government should be devoting more time to considering how the wartime counter - inflation policy could be continued in peacetime . As Keynes pointed out , the Treasury 's opposition to planning for post - war full employment was a lost cause , because when post - war plans came under the political spotlight the Labour members of the government would undoubtedly press for an expansionist policy . The Treasury was under a cloud from 1940 to 1943 . This was partly because Sir Horace Wilson , a close adviser of Chamberlain and greatly disliked by Churchill and the Labour Party , remained its official head until 1942 . In part it was due to the association of the Treasury with the economic policy of Baldwin and Chamberlain , men now discredited as appeasers .
Idiom: over the hill (used idiomatically: yes)
She would walk the ten - mile round trip over the Downs to Charleston without demur , striding out in an afternoon , often rapt in thought , puzzling over the next scene in the novel she had been writing all morning . Her ‘ lodge’ , a wooden summerhouse at the bottom of the garden , was where she wrote most days she was there . But a visit to Vanessa , ‘ humming & booming & flourishing over the hill’ in a household of children , could make Virginia feel suddenly diminished , her life thin and pale by comparison , Monk 's House poky and mean . Then this mood would lift , and she could write appreciatively again : ‘ We get snatches of divine loneliness here … why not stay here for ever and ever , enjoying this immortal rhythm in which both soul and eye are at rest ? So I said , and for once L. ( Leonard ) said : ‘ You 're not such a fool as you seem’ .
Idiom: state of the art (used idiomatically: yes)
I did n't know who the guy riding it was , but through my police issue 200 × 6000 macroscopic laser - prism binoculars I could see he was the same guy who had just bopped the doorman in the head . I did n't know what he was up to and I guess I did n't care . But you can imagine my surprise when I angled said state - of - the - art bins to the street , watched the long black car as it rolled up and saw the self - same guy step out of it . Laz , I said to myself , Laz , something pretty weird 's going on here , and if you do n't get on to your agent and negotiate for the use of another couple of sets , you 're gon na be standing in this Goddamn alleyway for the rest of the book The little light filled the number sixty - six and the little bell went ping .
Idiom: at death's door (used idiomatically: yes)
My poor grandmother is very ill now and I ' m afraid she 's at death 's door .
Idiom: no two ways about it (used idiomatically: yes)
R.B. Who 's the ‘ they’ ? P.B. Ann Thomas [ the community adviser]and Chris [ Deputy Head Community]and Lesley [ the Bursar ] . That was the job description , no two ways about it . We ? Gill and myself , did not think that she was an adequate representative of this school , to visit primary schools .
Idiom: put the cat among the pigeons (used idiomatically: yes)
effort , that 's to the It 's his wife who normally does things . Well , it might put the cat among the pigeons June , but then so what ! It needs revitalizing ! Well I thought I would
Idiom: born and bred (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ I know it , sir.’ ‘ You know the area well?’ ‘ I ought to , I was born and bred in Penzance ; PC Hawken , sir.’ Late thirties , ought to have made sergeant by now but probably did n't want to . Who could blame him ?
Idiom: to die for (used idiomatically: no)
Some gave themselves fierce noms de guerre , ' Rambo ' and ' El Negro ' , as if their only purpose was fighting for its own sake , though even that purpose was largely wishful thinking ; much of their time was spent hanging round in the camps , doing nothing . North took that badly . He wanted the contras to be seen to be dying for their cause , emphasizing both how desperate it was , and how just . His own grand plan for them , as O'Boyle had heard in his ' secret briefing ' , was a sort of wholesale , slow martyrdom , based loosely both on the Alamo and on Khe Sanh , a last - ditch stand by Marines in Vietnam . North was proud of his plan ; but then he himself , as several associates noticed , seemed to be desperate to die for his country , even in the course of ' Project Democracy ' if all else failed .
Idiom: food for thought (used idiomatically: yes)
The vagueness accommodates a high degree of self - protection , whether it be deliberate or coincidental . There is no reason why a lyricist should elucidate but in Gedge 's case the lack of chimera can make surveying his words an unrewarding exercise . On a song like ‘ What Did Your Last Servant Die Of?’ he provides neither food for thought nor reveals anything about himself . He sometimes borders on triteness , but more often his straightforward approach allows him to speak in an authentic language which is easily understood and brilliantly evocative . He uses words like ‘ daft’ ; phrases and dialogue that are rarely heard in songs but immediately provide flavour .
Idiom: on the run (used idiomatically: no)
In its humped posture it runs along in a zigzag path , quivering its wings and stopping every so often to make sure that it is being followed . If the predator ignores this tempting performance , the little bird quickly flies back and runs close to it , moving with great agitation . It then starts off on another ' rodent - run ' , watching to see if it is followed . It continues to do this until the predator is safely in pursuit and is moving farther and farther away from the nest . The bravery of a parent bird when defending its nest is remarkable , as is proved by this blacksmith plover 's display towards an intruding elephant .
Idiom: steer clear of (used idiomatically: yes)
Most of his customers , no matter how fat , would prefer that too . Boxes at Wimbledon , golfing weekends and ski holidays at Les Arcs are on the boundaries of business entertainment and business corruption . The Profitboss steers clear of such indulgence , for in the end everyone pays dearly for the privilege of the few . If you have to buy a customer with lavish entertainment , you might as well buy your way out of every problem . That 's no way to manage .
Idiom: slippery slope (used idiomatically: yes)
Meanwhile , pro - choicers argue that if we restrict abortion to 18 weeks , then next year it will be 15 , then 12 . The reality is that it is extraordinarily difficult to get any change in these kinds of laws — as the last 30 years of procedural mugging by both sides shows in relation to abortion , and the five - year gestation period of this Bill shows with regard to experimenting . Too often we are faced with clamouring up the slippery slopes to the law more than sliding down them . We have to accept that the reality is that we are always already on the slope , holding a position . A fourth bad approach is to claim that the law can not stop research or whatever is under discussion , so why try ?
Idiom: touch and go (used idiomatically: no)
But a few months before its off - Broadway opening , Eh?had had its successful American premiere at the Playhouse in the Park in Cincinnati , Ohio , in which 26-year - old Sam Waterston played the lead to the author 's supreme satisfaction . However , Livings was not in the USA to see Dustin and a cast which included Dana Elcar , Elizabeth Wilson ( who would play Dustin 's mother in The Graduate ) and Carl Gabler when it opened at Circle - In - The - Square at Bleeker Street on 16 October 1966 . Again it was touch and go whether Dustin would be fired before the first night . Theodore Mann , co - founder and producer of Circle - In - The - Square since 1951 , had seen Dustin on stage and wanted him badly enough to have dismissed two directors instead of the actor . Melvin Bernhardt , who had directed the show in Cincinnati , was sacked after differences of opinion with Dustin .
Idiom: go all the way (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah . through that but in total we are . So it 's the same water going all the way round , it 's the same current going all the way through here , so if we 've got ten gallons a minute of electricity coming in there , say ten amps , Yeah . yeah ?
Idiom: free rein (used idiomatically: yes)
The important things . Most chaps in my time would n't dream of trying to lord it over their girl . You 'd be given free rein to run the show how you wanted it . But the important decisions … well , it stands to reason that these would be the sole responsibility of the man . A woman does n't know the ways of the world ; she does n't understand these things … and would n't want to .
Idiom: off the hook (used idiomatically: yes)
I I mean er I doubt whether we 'll we 'll have a full slate in February anyway so I mean they 'll probably be the option for people to come in later and we 'll probably end up co - opting people later and er I think we should Yeah alright . I 'm pleased you think that because it gets me off the hook now . I think that because I do n't think people wait until the deadline to er respond anyway . Helen ?
Idiom: out of the woods (used idiomatically: yes)
But Finn stepped firmly . He seemed familiar with every inch of this riot . They came out of the wood into a bare field where coarse grass lapped limply around their ankles . It was the sort of grass which cuts your hand if you pull it incautiously . In grey billows , it rolled into nothing , into the mist which was already descending .
Idiom: clear the decks (used idiomatically: yes)
A detached head , who acts with detachment , coolly weighing matters up , allowing the mind to soak up ideas and to put them together in new ways , is not a primary - school image . He or she may choose to accept the load of small and troublesome issues and there may be no one else to take over certain tasks . To clear the decks needs a double effort : the machinery of school organization has to be kept rolling , the crises and questions which start outside the school have to be dealt with . At the same time documents have to be read , thinned down and explained to colleagues , usually with a footnote to mention that there is more documentation that the head will protect them from . Reading , thinning out and explaining the demands of NCC , SEAC , local authorities and governors takes more time than a head can find during a school day .
Idiom: hold water (used idiomatically: yes)
Peter Hennessy is conducting a brief series of interviews with ex - prime ministers , on the theme of Premiership ( Radio 3 , Wednesday ) . This week , he put a good case for regarding Alec Douglas - Home , Lord Home of the Hirsel , as one of the most under - rated comedians of the last 30 years . Lord Home belied his reputation for laziness — the commonly - held view of the elder statesman , as the British prototype for Ronald Reagan , did n't hold water : up and working at 6.30 every morning , even if he did spend uncommon amounts of time in trout streams . It was a great shock to him , though , after years in the House of Lords , to encounter once more the bear - garden of the Commons : he was unprepared for the shock of the sheer weight of noise from the opposition benches ( which were more crowded in those days ) . But what undermined him in office , and made him worth hearing out of it , was his surprise at becoming Prime Minister in the first place — Rab Butler shared that — so that , he agreed , he never quite suppressed a sense of the absurdity of his position .