Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: steer clear of (used idiomatically: yes)
Yet another irritating picture defect is the flickering moire effect which is often seen on finely - patterned surfaces such as the stripes in men 's suits . These picture faults are due to the technical compromises which are built into video and television systems . Unless you are fortunate enough to possess one of the new super - format camcorders in which these defects have been ironed out , the solution is to steer clear of such subjects . Remember that these are colour effects , and they will therefore not show up on a black and white viewfinder . Flesh tones can often burn out in bright sunlight .
Idiom: blood is thicker than water (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Was that an attempt to shame me , Culley ? Was that supposed to cut ? Are you trying to hint that blood is thicker than water?’ Culley watched him ; his finger - ends were tingling . ‘ Well , I suppose it might be .
Idiom: make history (used idiomatically: no)
In the same way as Hegel , Panovsky 's notion of the dialectic makes history follow a predetermined course .
Idiom: break someone's heart (used idiomatically: yes)
A few doors down from his own room sat a Co - ordinator of Intelligence whose task it was to try and keep MI6 , 5 and the true military organisations from duplicating each other 's efforts and spitting in each other 's beer . His main control was money , since he turned the taps of the Secret Funds , but that was rather long - term . When relations grew particularly bad he became the child go - between in a household of warring parents : ‘ Ask your father if it would break his heart to change channels so I can watch the news.’ By the unwritten laws of an unadmitted game , Six should never have sent a war - party into Five 's tribal land without at least telling the Co - ordinator . ‘ Or perhaps,’ Agnes added , ‘ they went through the Yard?’
Idiom: let someone down gently (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ You would n't want me for a cousin - in - law , by the sound of it.’ ‘ Too bloody true!’ he snarled , but cooled down marginally , though that dangerous glint was still around somewhere when he added , ‘ But since you 've just said you 've no intention of marrying my cousin — this is what you 're going to do.’ Briefly he paused , then , ‘ The next time you see him , while letting him down gently , you will make sure that he knows you do n't love him.’ ‘ You think I 'm capable of it — letting him down gently?’ Leith queried , sarcasm getting the better of her .
Idiom: go to the wall (used idiomatically: yes)
The support policy favours big arable farmers . They have prospered along with the chemical companies and machinery manufacturers who supply them . Small livestock farmers have gone to the wall in their thousands . The book demolishes the ‘ strategic’ and ‘ balance of payments’arguments for heavy slate spending on agriculture . It claims that protectionist farming policies have increased the burden of poverty in the developing world and subsidised the destruction of the British countryside .
Idiom: fair and square (used idiomatically: yes)
I 'm not being nasty I 'll give him the money , but I was on there I just did n't want to fill that , I wanna win fair and square I wanna win through , somebody give me his cards Five hundred each one
Idiom: to all intents and purposes (used idiomatically: yes)
The last wild salmon was caught in the Rhine in 1958 . Eleven - metre high " ladders " are to be built to help the fish bypass weirs at Strasbourg 's power stations . The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine says that its target of 90 per cent reduction of waste from industry and water treatment plants has to all intents and purposes been met . But there are continuing problems with fertilizers and pesticides , and residues of polychlorinated biphenyls in fish . Around 150,000 salmon were caught in the river in 1900 , but by 1920 catches had dropped to 30,000 .
Idiom: act of God (used idiomatically: yes)
It was their duty ‘ so to work as to make proprietors or occupiers on a lower level as secure against injury as they would have been had nature not been interfered with.’ Similar considerations apply to an extraordinary high wind and an extraordinary high tide . Lightning , earthquakes , cloudbursts and tornadoes may be acts of God but there seems to be no English decision in which they have been involved . In law , then , the essence of an act of God is not so much a phenomenon which is sometimes attributed to a positive intervention of the forces of nature , but a process of nature not due to the act of man and it is this negative side which deserves emphasis . The criterion is not whether or not the event could reasonably be anticipated , but whether or not human foresight and prudence could reasonably recognise the possibility of such an event .
Idiom: go all the way (used idiomatically: no)
You you could n't think six of clubs . you could possibly go all that way and not pick a hand up that would make you something . No . Thirty nine .
Idiom: on the cards (used idiomatically: yes)
This is the question an increasing number of consumers are asking themselves in the financially straitened Nineties . The greatest sting , it seems , lies with credit cards which were issued almost indiscriminately in the booming Eighties , but now many people find they can no longer afford the interest charges levied . According to recent reports , there is £ 8bn outstanding on credit cards in the UK , which works out at an average of between £ 350 and £ 400 on each card in issue with an interest rate of about 26 per cent a year . More and more people are choosing to pay off the full amount on their credit cards at the end of each month — using them like charge cards to avoid interest charges . About 62 per cent did just that last year compared with 42 per cent the previous year .
Idiom: make the cut (used idiomatically: no)
These contradictions explain the recurrent expenditure crises . The control of public spending therefore becomes central to the sustenance of the capitalist system ( Gough , 1979 ) . Faced with unpopular cuts , the government increased central control while leaving much of the responsibility for making the cuts to local government , thus fragmenting opposition ( Flynn , 1988 ) . In what follows , we adopt what might be called a modified pluralist approach ( Hall et al . , 1975 ; Glennerster , 1975,1979 ) .
Idiom: get the boot (used idiomatically: yes)
What ? Oh aye , I told him not to . Colin , did you get boots ? Ah ? Did you get boots ?
Idiom: pull a face (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Oh , I just bumped into some people , who knew some people … . It 's all a question of luck , really.’ She pulled a face . ‘ Mind you , I was n't always lucky . I 've done my share of drudgery along the way — waitressing , skivvying , working in shops.’
Idiom: steal someone's thunder (used idiomatically: yes)
The Israeli company reports figures in US dollars . MINIGRAMS IBM Corp is leaving launch of the new top - end mainframe disk drive to its AdStar unit in San Jose , and it now appears that the introduction has been brought forward to tomorrow — perhaps in an effort to steal Hitachi Data Systems Inc 's thunder . Lotus Development Corp president Jim Manzi says that the company 's flagship 1 - 2 - 3 spreadsheet may account for less than 50 % of total revenues this quarter , for the first time in the company 's history — it accounted for 74 % in 1991 ; he also says that lower marketing and development costs should allow the company to deliver an operating margin of 15 % to 18 % next year . Cray Research Inc says it could sell 30 to 40 massively parallel systems in 1994 ' if we do things correctly ' : Derek Robb , director of sales , told Reuter that Cray 's massively parallel systems cost several million dollars at the low end , and run up to the multi - millions ; they link together hundreds or thousands of Alpha RISC processors and in 1994 , Robb said , he ' could see ' its parallel revenues reaching 25 % of the Cray total ; at the very top end , customers ' budgets are now topping out at about $ 50 m to $ 60 m , he said , meaning the most processors it would likely offer on its T3D system is 2,048 .
Idiom: in a nutshell (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ I was in a season of Restoration comedy at Preston,’ she said , peering at a study of P.L. O'Hara with treacle ringlets playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan . Bunny agreed with Meredith that there was nothing wrong with Dawn Allenby apart from her love of beauty , an affliction she was ill - equipped to fight . He put it in a nutshell when he said she was the sort of girl who , if there had been a meadow handy , would have been out there in a flash picking cowslips . Meredith went up to the rehearsal room in a less tetchy state of mind . His brush with John Harbour had soothed him ; it was always satisfying to the senses , however diminishing to the soul , to wield power .
Idiom: one of those things (used idiomatically: yes)
I , I wo n't get drawn into that again but in draft eleven point one there is reference to the fact that a copy of the report that went to the Policy Coordination sub - committee er was er a attached and in fact er it is n't attached . That missing report has been put round the table this morning and I hope that members of the committee would have found it and would be able to add it to that I apologise for that omission erm it 's er erm one of those things that er er does I 'm afraid from time to time happen . Erm the er most important item I think Chairman is the work programme for the future year which commences at erm about twelve and forms the second half of the report and I would be very happy to deal with any questions and it is very clearly in the light of things that we 've already said , the first part of er that latter half of the report er which er emphasises the erm principal activities er to the department er that of strategic policy in paragraphs thirteen one , thirteen two and thirteen three are therefore perhaps the areas to which I would er draw you attention er most , but the report as whole is er I hope a reasonably succinct summary of what has gone on or what is proposed to be done and er in order to avoid simply what is already in the report , I , I would leave it at that point and say I 'm happy to deal with any questions . And nobody seems to be itching to speak on this report .
Idiom: fight tooth and nail (used idiomatically: yes)
No , no , no , hold on . No , just wait a minute , no . When they rise to an equal level , like for instance if I have a choice between going to a woman doctor and a man doctor and they 're both on the GP list , I will choose the woman , because the woman has had to fight tooth and nail , probably , and work much harder , to get at an equal level with the man , so I would suspect that I 'm getting value for and quality there by going for the woman . Well I think that when I said that I think that given a man and a woman of equal qualifications I was assuming that that had been taken into account . I mean at the moment of choice you 're faced with a set of people , including , let 's say , one man and one woman , who on paper match each other and who perhaps , even if you 've adjusted for a possibility of the woman 's having to fight and so on , they 're equal on paper .
Idiom: to the bone (used idiomatically: no)
Centre lives in ‘ fear’ of vandals Report by Michael Walsh TEENAGE vandals are targeting one of the few leisure facilities in north Belfast . Ballysillan Leisure Centre has had to spend over £ 2 , out of a budget already pared to the bone repairing windows smashed in a spate of weekend attacks over the past month . And centre staff say the local community is being forced to suffer because of the actions of a few ‘ hoodlums’ . The attacks started after building work began on the biggest improvement scheme carried out at the centre since it first opened in 1982 .
Idiom: never say die (used idiomatically: yes)
A stirring battle cry ‘ I will not become a cabbage’ helped double stroke victim Mr Morris Marshall overcome disability . Now the former chairman of Merrybent parish council has written about his struggle against heart disease in a medical journal . The never - say - die 69 year - old widower is also taking piano lessons for the first time . He has written about his experiences in the respected twice - yearly Darlington Postgraduate Journal which is put together by doctors at the Memorial Hospital . Almost every hospital and health centre in Britain will receive a copy of the glossy journal as well as around 1,000 doctors in the North East .
Idiom: have been around (used idiomatically: no)
Levein is , co - incidentally , a survivor from the side who defeated Argentina during their reign as world champions . The new captain , the only member of the squad with that responsibility at club level , is also typical of the kind of player left available to Roxburgh . ‘ Those who have been around for a while and waited on an international chance tend to appreciate it all the more when one arrives,’ he said . Nicky Walker falls into that category , too , and Roxburgh observed that he had ‘ no worries’ over blooding the goalkeeper in this match . ‘ Nicky has been round the houses at club level and that helps.’
Idiom: go to the wall (used idiomatically: yes)
We called them supermarkets . But they were n't really that super . Many stores were as small as 500 sq ft— about the size of the corner shops which they still resembled — but as the big boys got bigger the small shops went to the wall . Families were better off , more mobile . They had fridges at home so did n't need to shop every day on the corner .
Idiom: go downhill (used idiomatically: yes)
However , neither a good physique , nor ballet or singing skills , would be particularly evident or useful in his next film role . As far back as August 1965 , when James Leo Herlihy 's novel Midnight Cowboy was first published , it had done the rounds of every major studio , all of which turned it down . UA reported , with a certain amount of acuity , that the action ' goes steadily downhill ' . In October 1966 , however , one year after the decision not to take up the option on the book , David V. Picker at UA bought the movie rights . It took another two years before Picker offered it to English director John Schlesinger .
Idiom: high and low (used idiomatically: yes)
Sometimes this is n't possible , as care has to be taken to keep to public footpaths or ask landowners ' permission . For those with other means of transport , a possible procedure is to follow the line as closely as possible by public roads , stopping where the line crosses to observe and explore . In particular , the high and low points on the line should be noted and investigated for possible sighting markers . Draw a cross - section along the line by noting where the contours cross and gradually build up a profile of the ley on a separate piece of paper . The visibility of one point from another can then be determined and the likely sighting spots found .
Idiom: long in the tooth (used idiomatically: yes)
" That might be unwise . I must have a word with him on the phone . If I may say so , you 're a bit long in the tooth to be an articled clerk , and — to make up for that — you have an air of authority that scarcely fits you for a junior position . I think you 'd better be a financial adviser — one of the bank 's backroom boys . Yes , you must certainly be on the staff of the bank .
Idiom: rule of thumb (used idiomatically: yes)
Hofmann returned to Berlin , to the most prestigious chair of chemistry in Germany and thus in the world , in 1865 , somewhat disappointed at the slow development of chemistry in Britain . Despite some disappointments , the general progress of science was by this time undoubted , and a source of pride even to those not connected with it . In all directions it seemed that scientific investigation was triumphing over ignorance , and scientific analysis replacing rule of thumb . It is to these triumphs , some of which could be made intelligible to laymen while others remained obscure , that we shall now turn , looking first at the discoveries rather than at their reception outside the scientific community . 10 The Triumphal Chariot
Idiom: play the field (used idiomatically: no)
Individual Liss times : Anyone wishing to join the Liss club and perhaps start training now for next year 's race should just turn up for training on Wednesday evenings ( 7 p.m. ) and Sunday mornings ( 9.30 a.m . ) . The sessions start from Newman Collard Playing Fields , Liss . Young Harriers at Brighton Thirteen young Waverley Harriers attended the first Brighton & Hove open meeting at Withdean Stadium on Saturday .
Idiom: take someone to task (used idiomatically: yes)
And I think those bells are a little obnoxious . ' The Wimbledon champion , though , had no words of condemnation for American fans , who cheered every service error by the Swiss and shouted ' foot fault ' when Marc Rosset was about to serve . Nor did he take colleague John McEnroe to task for abusing the Swiss non - playing captain , hitting balls at their team and gesturing at them with his racket . Sometimes , one finds it hard to understand why Americans are so disliked on the sports field . Walsh has shock chance
Idiom: read between the lines (used idiomatically: no)
Factors affecting reader reception Reading is not as simple as it seems , and the reader is not as passive a receiver as we once thought . Gray ( Clymer , 1972 , p.61 ) has shown that the competent reader has the ability ‘ to read the lines , to read between the lines , and to read beyond the lines’ . That is , the reader reads what is stated , and reads what is implied . The reader also extends the author 's ideas , using his or her own knowledge , experience , and so on .
Idiom: state of the art (used idiomatically: yes)
My third recording , also from Decca , seems to get everything right from the engineering point of view . This is a two - disc set comprising Tchaikovsky 's ballet music The Nutcracker and Glazunov 's The seasons performed by the RPO conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy . In his April review , IM was full of praise : ‘ state - of - the - art sound , glowingly rich , with lovely , full string textures … the sound is gorgeous’ . I agree and would add that the Decca engineers , though recording in Walthamstow Assembly Hall for one work and Watford Town Hall for the other , have captured an idealized degree of definition and an open spaced spread in both halls , with exciting attack and dynamics . With such enjoyable and accessible music this could make a highly satisfactory set for demonstrating a newly acquired hi - fi system .
Idiom: stick your neck out (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ This country’ , he said , ‘ has absolutely no hope without a massive , global , tough , shoot - the - bad - guys policy of disarmament . The Americans’ main preoccupation was with their own security . You have to stick your neck out if you want to do any good here.’ Dr O'Kane 's views are shared by Somalis . In Kismayu 's teashops the talk is almost free .
Idiom: grind to a halt (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Let me see both hands — slowly,’ he instructed , his voice strained . Guy 's mouth kicked up at one corner in a wryly amused smile . Despite the fact that the war had ground to a halt while the commanders - in - chief of both armies languished in their respective prisons , the young sprig confronting him obviously took his guard duty seriously . ‘ I 'm fitzAlan of Ashby Chase,’ he announced quietly , withdrawing the hand concealed in his cloak . The other retained its firm grip on the reins .
Idiom: behind the scenes (used idiomatically: yes)
They cry out for the magic of the modern movies . Our aim is to make Alice a Victorian coloured picture book come to life on the screen , with all its charm , fun , fantasy and sense of magical wonder and adventure . ' Unfortunately , despite such an illustrious cast and behind - the - scenes team , Sterling 's picture lacked the ' magical wonder and adventure ' for which he was looking . Publicity for the film started badly when the American distributors flew 140 journalists and potential exhibitors to Britain . The aim was to give the writers the advance information they always sought and to gain interest from cinemas .
Idiom: turn a blind eye (used idiomatically: yes)
Worse , he told her that naturally he never used the lifts because if one were faulty he could be stuck a long time with no one to free him . She had other questions but Stan chose not to be sidetracked from the serious business of telling Oliver he could not stay on the premises after all . Turning a blind eye to his presence was one thing , he said , but being party to malicious damage quite another . Oliver argued but Stan made a grumpy mention of ten minutes and tossed over his shoulder the order that the chairs were to be put back where they belonged . Oliver would have gone on wrangling but Rain said it did not matter , her car was outside .
Idiom: in someone's pocket (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Give me that,’ I said , and I snatched the card . There was a little magnetic tug as it came off his wrist . I stuffed it back in my pocket . ‘ But you 're beautiful,’ he said . ‘ Inside .
Idiom: get the picture (used idiomatically: yes)
I was back in court the next day and I ended up getting twelve months for GBH [ grievous bodily harm]on a police officer . I think it should have been the other way round because I was black and blue from head to toe . When I got into Holloway they have them little forms and they 've got pictures of a body with all arrows and everything , and where I had any bruises the doctor put these marks . It was like from head to toe there was these marks on my body where I had bruises , and I got done for police assault — I could n't believe it ! While I was doing that sentence my other case for running a brothel and living off immoral earnings came up .
Idiom: on board (used idiomatically: no)
The net effect is that common European interests are not represented at ~ all . Contrast this current condition of extended misery with the only sensible long - term solution : a pooling of IMF quotas by all eurozone countries . The eurozone would then have one constituency , or seat , on the Fund 's executive board , filled by a candidate nominated by the eurozone group of finance ministers .
Idiom: pissed off (used idiomatically: yes)
But f***ing Newcastle … we did n't get this much parise our first season back … and I think we were doing as well as they are . grumble grumble … bloody conspiracy theories … grumble … all trying to get Leeds grumble . Anyway , on a brighter note … apparently the Arsenal mailing list are pissed off by the Scum mailing list for slagging them off . An Arsenal friend of mine admitted that all he wanted at the moment was for Leeds to catch Scum . So the whole country is starting to term against them .
Idiom: green light (used idiomatically: yes)
The European ~ Commission has given the green light to a co - operation agreement between Dresdner ~ Bank and Banque Nationale de ~ Paris ( BNP ) .
Idiom: state of the art (used idiomatically: yes)
That said , it 's still the graphics that impress the most : the colours are deeper and sharper than before , the action faster . Push things all the way , and the on - screen mayhem achieves an almost cyberdelic overload . Older gameheads might perhaps prefer something deeper , but , in terms of pure techno - flash , Sonic 2 defines the current state of the art . Sonic gives the thumbs up to cyberdelic overload the latest model war in the US is being televised weekly as a sort of gladiatorial slugfest .
Idiom: perish the thought (used idiomatically: yes)
Luckily for all of us , it 's perfectly within the law . Otherwise we 'd be deprived of , among others , our own darling from Down Under , Dame Edna Everage . Perish the awful thought . BOUQUET OF THE WEEK THIS week 's bouquet nomination comes from an elderly reader who writes about a special and very kind friend .