Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: spot on (used idiomatically: yes)
While it may look slightly imposing , in reality the R450 is as easy to use as any tuner you 've ever tried . However , in the professional world , little plastic boxes are not the order of the day , even though for everyday tuning needs they are more than adequate . The R450 handles special tunings equally well and it 's also spot on when it comes to setting up guitars ; if this tuner shows your intonation to be out then it 's out . After all , a guitar tech 's job has to depend on such accuracy , and if it were my job then I 'd rather put my faith in the R450 than a box - load of pocket tuners . In fact , while the R450 is here I 'm using it to set up my own guitars , all of which I tuned first with a normal tuner .
Idiom: neither fish nor fowl (used idiomatically: yes)
Like an eternity of lying on the beach , an endless Sunday among thousands of our own kind , sluggish , half asleep , in earshot of the comfortable lap of the waves . In limine primo : on the threshold of death , the threshold of life . Creatures thrown up by the sea , stalled on the sands , undecided , indecisive , neither hot nor cold , neither fish nor fowl . We had passed the last of the houses and were driving in grey early - morning light through a landscape of scorched earth , blackened trees . A pickup truck passed us with three men in the back sheltering under a tarpaulin .
Idiom: in someone's pocket (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ What are you writing , Piper ? ’ The voice came from one of the mortar team over by the orchard wall . ‘ Nothing , ’ I replied as I scrambled out of the trench , replacing the diary quickly in my hip pocket . After breakfasting with the mortar team I made my way over to Brigade H.Q As I passed along the wall of the orchard I suddenly thought about the Frenchman and his family who lived in the cottage on the other side of the wall . I clambered over the wall and dropped on the other side and made my way quickly across the field in the direction of the cottage .
Idiom: toe the line (used idiomatically: yes)
She is placing her faith in them in the hope that they will restore respect for the monarchy . It has never been the Queen 's style to rant and rave when things have gone wrong — and in truth she has never needed to . In the past , respect and awe for their mother have been enough to ensure that her children toed the line , and for her part the Queen always held out hope that their difficulties would be resolved . Despite all the problems that Fergie caused her both personally and publicly , the Queen refused to send her away until , after the publication of the photographs of her with John Bryan were published , it was almost impossible not to do so . It is not that she no longer feels for her children .
Idiom: look on the bright side (used idiomatically: yes)
Voice over In the premiership we have swindon town … on the bottom … still searching for the their first league win of the season … in the first division we have Oxford United., … on the bottom … with just two wins all season … in the third division we have Hereford United five off the bottom … again just two league wins … in rugby 's first division we have Gloucester one off the bottom recovering from their biggest ever league defeat see what I mean … always look on the bright side of life … we have 14 cracking goals for you … and daring … thrilling comebacks by both Oxford and Hereford … our action starts in the premiership at the county ground Pictures BBC Sport Voice over
Idiom: rank and file (used idiomatically: yes)
Using ideas from then fashionable ‘ crowd psychology’ , Michels claimed that any mass of citizens is psychologically incapable of handling complex decisions . Masses need leaders who can stir them out of apathy and organize them , but once organized they defer to leaders and accord them steadily greater levels of discretion to pursue their own rather than mass interests . The socialist parties ' elite groups and the rank and file members had increasingly diverged in their social background , incomes , interests and capabilities . The large size and complex organization of mass parties create the need for leaders with expertise , stability in tenure of office , and specialized task - management . This organizational logic further increases the discretion which leaders enjoy to direct organizational activities towards their own purposes , even if this shift means betraying the rank and file 's interests .
Idiom: song and dance (used idiomatically: no)
" … beautiful mornin ' beautiful day … " RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN A colourful and exciting celebration in song and dance of those two giants of the American musical theatre RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN whose captivating melodies and lyrics are played somewhere throughout the world every day of the year ! The team who gave us SOUTH PACIFIC , OKLAHOMA , CAROUSEL , THE SOUND OF MUSIC and THE KING AND I are just some from the legacy of the best and most popular shows of the post - war era . An evening to remember .
Idiom: turn the corner (used idiomatically: yes)
Smell the air . Walk along the path , as it winds its way up into the mountain . Eventually , you turn a corner and notice a cave ahead of you . As you approach the cave , you notice that someone is there . It might be an old man , or an old woman .
Idiom: round the bend (used idiomatically: yes)
A cruiser was going up - river , against the tide and churning water . Gulls drifted lethargically on the swell . The boat was making for Tower Bridge , round the distant bend to Rain 's right ; the tide was running out towards Limehouse Reach , beyond the long sweep of river to her left . There was one other person on the terrace , a swarthy man with a blue nylon shirt sticking to the contours of his body . Rain approached him , her eyes on the river .
Idiom: on the carpet (used idiomatically: yes)
She 's , she 's , she 's really friendly right . driving past in that little Rascal van That , that woman yeah she 's upstairs and you go up there in the morning and she 's on her hands and knees on your carpet sweeping your carpet cos she has n't got a hoover . Oh we get a hoover . But she 's on your
Idiom: everything in the garden is rosy (used idiomatically: yes)
The paper quite rightly says and I quote the relationship between the T G W U and the G M B has all been marked by a blend of competition and co - operation . It then goes on to detail a number of joint initiatives covering the the country and all the G M B regions . To be fair , the C E C have not tried to say that everything in the garden is rosy , they 've also highlighted a number of problem areas that still exist . Indeed all look at the recent decision by the and Allied Trade Union to the members who have amalgamated themselves Transport and General Workers . It 's only dirty tricks and underhanded tactics used by the T & G during the approach of the Workers ' Union so must realize Congress , to be more positive , one of the major benefits or more , the major benefit from future amalgamation with the T & G would be the free help of officials from both unions and and negotiations both national , regional and even at times individual company level where both unions help members .
Idiom: jack of all trades (used idiomatically: yes)
' I sometimes wonder what it would be like if Stop The World had had a proper director , who did it for a living . But I was seduced by the thought that I could pull it off . Jack of all trades … well , you know the rest of it . ' His best work , including Stop The World , was written with Leslie Bricusse . ' Why did we stop ?
Idiom: in the pink (used idiomatically: yes)
He has always appreciated the finer things in life and can often be seen lunching at London 's Savoy Grill . Although fox hunting has not taken place in Hyde Park for many years , an impressive Hunt Ball was held in the Polish Hearth Club in Kensington last week for Shropshire 's United Pack . Six Masters of Fox Hounds turned out resplendent in their hunting pink ( their red coats ) , including the United Pack 's Rory Knight Bruce . Other literary figures and socialites present included Jesus Christ 's biographer A N Wilson , Winston Churchill 's granddaughter Emma Soames and Wessex regionalist campaigner Lady Henrietta Rous . Dancer Bryony Brind
Idiom: face the music (used idiomatically: yes)
Police picked up Mr Beaton and MacIver was arrested at a road block at Doune . While MacIver was on bail , he found a job in the US . His defence advocate , James Reilly said : ‘ It is to his credit that he returned to face the music.’ During the trial , Lord Maclean heard a taped confession where MacIver admitted that he suggested which lorry to hijack and drove to Inverness a week before the robbery to check the vehicle 's routine . He denied knowing anything about a plan to abduct the driver or that guns might have been involved .
Idiom: hold the fort (used idiomatically: yes)
I have always had the understanding that the National Secretary had a general responsibility for all CA activity in his / her country . Is this true or not ? Certainly it was the view adopted , for example , when we had a 6 month interregnum in Dublin , and it was assumed it was my responsibility to hold the fort . However , recently I have had the impression that this attitude no longer prevails in CA . If this general statement is not correct , I then need to have a complete new understanding of what my job is , and the rest of this paper is irrelevant .
Idiom: on the cards (used idiomatically: yes)
I remember that he liked one in celebration of wool ; another was of everything brown or gray , for which I had arranged a large collection of natural objects , of woven and blockprinted textiles , pots , and beautiful bowls and boxes made of wood . He teased me about the way in which I always created a background for these exhibitions , isolating them from their surroundings , by arranging a roll of six feet high gray or white corrugated card in columns and bays . It amused him too that I used only pins to mount most of the items on the card . It must have been rather unnerving for him to see his room thus turned upside down . But because he knew that I and my group would be careful he happily let me use his basic materials — boards , palettes , etc . — and we brought our own paints and dyes and drawing materials .
Idiom: on the rocks (used idiomatically: yes)
Grace stared carefully through the telescope . White water crashed over the wreck . Sometimes the ship moved on the rock , and sometimes pieces of wood fell off into the sea . But she saw no people . ‘ No , father .
Idiom: by the same token (used idiomatically: yes)
The basic claim of the Principle is plausible enough : in constructing a fictional universe we rely on what we know about the actual world unless instructed otherwise . This explains , for example , how , faced with the sentence " Babar the King of the elephants went to a restaurant " ( p. 52 ) , we project our experience of real human beings onto the fictional character , and infer that the reason for Babar 's action must be the aim to satisfy his desire for food . By the same token , however , says Ryan , one would have to conclude that the world of " Jabberwocky " contains computers , and that Little Red Riding Hood could , if so inclined , peruse the writings of Aquinas . The provisos and conditions that Ryan adds to the Principle in order to rule out such possibilities are as clumsy and ad hoc as the questions that they aim to answer , at least to the non - logician . Apart from the fact that a possible - worlds approach inevitably runs into problems if it insists on the logical completeness of fictional universes , it seems to me that what is a valid issue in logic does not necessarily have to be a valid issue in poetics and narratology .
Idiom: out to lunch (used idiomatically: yes)
I was getting your number from Tessa.’ ‘ You are ruining my life , I tell you.’ ‘ Could I take you out to lunch?’ ‘ You ruin my life all by one little word.’ ‘ Which little word?’
Idiom: come to a head (used idiomatically: yes)
Everything — from alcohol to sheep — has been disappearing , recalling the early plunder - happy days of Soviet occupation in 1945 . The misery of the Russians and their dependents has been intensified by a spate of attacks from East Germans finally able to give expression to years of resentment . Verbal abuse in the streets , broken windows and ‘ Russians go home’ graffiti are common , and things came to a head recently in Perleberg , not far from what used to be the West / East German border . Here , a series of clashes culminated in the fatal shooting of 19-year - old conscript Oleg Kosbar . Vietnamese and Neo Nazis
Idiom: run amok (used idiomatically: yes)
Radio control is clearly the most attractive means of operating the remote camera , whether as a single channel on the shutter or , as Raoul Fosset uses , three channels for full control to orbit the field of view and fire the shutter . Many auto - winders have a remote control socket which accepts a polarised ' jack ' for electrical contact to fire the shutter and transport the film . It is essential , though , that the correct frequency is used for your country , i.e. 27,35,40 or 72Mcs as applied to control of models and that , when the radio is operated , it is not within interference range of flying models or cars which might run dangerously amok if there is a clash of spot frequencies . Raoul Fosset 's fully articulated carrier , actuated by radio control . Getting it up there
Idiom: alive and kicking (used idiomatically: yes)
We found that using a Western model across cultures has potential . But it needs political , financial and personal commitment . And the lack of response by the authorities in Tower Hamlets leads us to conclude that ‘ institutional’ racism is very much alive and kicking . Confessions of a loan shark Young , hopelessly inexperienced , they roam the world like itinerant brushsellers , peddling loans to Third World countries and living like kings .
Idiom: on the hoof (used idiomatically: yes)
stay free for banner and weapon — mild shadow of Pushkin 's nightmare . Trained police horses sway on great hooves . Riders avoid our faces , and gaze down on our skull crowns
Idiom: break someone's heart (used idiomatically: yes)
He does n't actually realise that , at this point , the beautiful Estella is Miss Havisham 's tool . She has brought her up to make men fall at her feet in love with her and then to treat them roughly and to break their hearts . It is Miss Havisham 's way of getting her revenge on the male sex as it was a man who broke her heart , all those years ago , when she was abandoned on the day of her wedding . The visits to Miss Havisham 's cease when she pays for Pip to become Joe 's apprentice . Then Pip 's friend Biddy comes to the forge as housekeeper , but Pip has no romantic interest in her as he is still in love with Estella and not satisfied with himself and his way of life .
Idiom: play possum (used idiomatically: yes)
Like the best fakers from the snake world , it displays a slackly open mouth with its tongue lolling out , and its eyes are half - closed . The American opossum has given its name to death - feigning . When ‘ playing possum’ it lies limply on the ground and can even be bitten hard by an attacker without showing any response . In this pathetic condition it is completely immune to any pain that may be inflicted upon it . Even if bitten or pecked it continues to lie limply on the ground .
Idiom: on board (used idiomatically: no)
The Annesleys had settled in Ireland in the 17th century but did not build Castlewellan Castle until the 1850s , when the bachelor 4th Earl Annesley commissioned William Burn to erect an austere granite pile . Gerald Annesley was educated at Wellington and then went out to Kenya by steerage . On board , though , a party of bridge players in first class found themselves short of a fourth , and Annesley filled the gap . On reaching Port Said , however , the captain declared that Annesley would have to be more respectably attired if he wished to continue in first class . The bridge party duly clubbed together to buy him a dinner jacket .
Idiom: make someone's day (used idiomatically: no)
In 1992 , the restless radar of DJ culture is settling uneasily , often reluctantly , on disco . But who , at this late date , can really penetrate the origins and deep meaning of this music , its shamans and its temples ? Joey Negro 's ' Enter Your Fantasy ' , Deep Collective 's ' Disco Elements ' , Disco Universe Orchestra 's ' Soul On Ice ' , Grace Under Pressure 's ' Make My Day ' , the Disco Brothers and Sure Is Pure 's ' Is This Love Really Real ? ' , M People 's ' Northern Soul ' album , Mass Order , Last Rhythm and all the other neo - disco tracks and trackers of the Nineties elegantly negotiate a space between nostalgia and machine futurism . Studded with ( studied ) disco clichés now distant enough to resonate with Antiques Roadshow mystique , throbbing with a new cyber - strength that the old classics could never match , they are smart enough to avoid a headlong plunge into unabashed shallowness .
Idiom: below par (used idiomatically: yes)
Also , the extra energy and health power - ups appear with alarming regularity , making fights ridiculously long . As soon as you 've battered your opponent into near - submission , a power - up appears ( which the computer - controlled player appears to anticipate ) and you 're back to square one ! Like most below - par beat-'em - ups , Millenium Warriors is better in two - player mode , but this is n't enough to save it . Shallow , samey gameplay ruins what should 've been a really rad game . Ian 51 %
Idiom: at the crossroads (used idiomatically: no)
Closer to Sharpe and Harper , around the crossroads of Quatre Bras , more men had gathered ; all of them Dutch - Belgians of the Prince of Orange 's Corps . There was a smattering of musket - fire from far beyond the stream , evidence that the rival picquet lines of skirmishers were bidding each other a lethal good morning . The Baron Rebecque , waiting with a group of the Prince 's aides at the crossroads , seemed relieved to see Sharpe . ‘ We 're concentrating the corps here , instead of at Nivelles.’ ‘ Quite right , too!’
Idiom: make waves (used idiomatically: yes)
We do n't make any noise about that … ’ ‘ Investigating a murder is making a noise?’ ‘ You 've a job to do , O.K. , but do n't make waves.’ ‘ I want to know the identity of a man , I want to reach him , I want to put him in handcuffs and read him a charge of First Degree murder.’ ‘ Beautiful.’
Idiom: curry favour (used idiomatically: yes)
We are still , however , in the realms of transparent sequences , because each constituent produces a recurrent semantic contrast : Semantic cohesiveness is even tighter if the meaning of one of the elements of a collocation requires a particular lexical item in its immediate context ( cases where all the elements are uniquely selective in this way seem not to occur ) . Such is the case with , for example , foot the bill and curry favour . With expressions such as these , we are obviously approaching another transitional area bordering on idiom . It has already been argued in some detail that foot the bill is semantically transparent .
Idiom: over the hill (used idiomatically: yes)
When the skystorm - god , Susa - no - wo was banished from the heavens , he wandered about the earth and met an elderly pair in a state of great distress . On enquiring of the cause , Susa - no - wo was told they had been obliged to offer their eight daughters , one by one , to the eight - headed dragon of Koshi and it was now the turn of the last daughter . This monster had eight heads and eight tails and was so long it stretched over eight hills and eight valleys . The hero - god accepted the challenge on condition that he could have the girl if he rescued her , and ordered the couple to build eight large vats and fill them with rice - beer , so that when the monster arrived all eight heads could drink at once . The monster fell asleep in a drunken stupor and Susa - no - wo then cut it to pieces and settled down with the maiden .
Idiom: think twice (used idiomatically: yes)
You may find that an overqualified person will quickly become dissatisfied and leave . Do you really want the best of a bad bunch ? If none of the candidates is suitable or fulfils the basic requirements of the job / personnel description think twice before appointing the best of a bad bunch . You may be better advised to start again , possibly finding your candidates by a different method , than risk the problems of engaging an inadequate candidate and being faced with all the disruption of having to go through the whole process at a later stage anyway . In the final analysis you will have to make a decision that should be based on the most objective assessment you can make but relying to a certain extent on your own instinct and intuition .
Idiom: ring a bell (used idiomatically: yes)
Yes , I 've . Yes , hello Arthur . Ring the bell , come on , in you go . Yes , had we been a little brighter , we were going to ring up and take Amy out yesterday we were also aah , and we struggled into Bromley and eh that was it . Yes been hopeless has n't it ?
Idiom: change hands (used idiomatically: yes)
The defence then kick 50 yards downfield . Defence has beaten attack even though the spectators have shown all the skill and all the enterprise . What happens is that possession is changing hands more often . That 's not continuity : that 's movement , and movement for movement 's sake . Continuity comes from sustained movements .
Idiom: hum and haw (used idiomatically: yes)
He hates it and does n't know what it means to me . The white tube , the cork - effect filter , the solid hot flare of the match and my lips tell me of my lungs as I make my own smoke , with its blue drifting and acrid smell . What if he came in this evening through a door that was n't there and sat in a chair - shape , reading a paper that had never been printed , saying aloud bits that were only hum and haw again to me ? Just how long would quack , quack last before he knew ? In my heart , I knew what I must do .
Idiom: by and large (used idiomatically: yes)
Our English counterparts have experts preparing Encyclopaedias of Precedents ( styles ) and text - books are revised to include new styles . Even weekly magazines carry styles to match developments in the law . We in Scotland must make do with such styles as we can accumulate in our professional careers and , by and large , the only other source of styles for non - statutory deeds is the Encyclopaedia of Scottish Legal Styles . This is a wonderful work , but the part which deals with leases is now nearly forty years old , and frankly is not sufficient to cover post - war developments . Probably the worst example of an incomprehensible deed , however , is the standard Trust Disposition and Settlement .
Idiom: game on (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Lordship’ had the belligerence of Bertie 's Aunt Agatha , even if he retained her nephew 's lisp . ‘ Golf on Fwiday?’ he howled irascibly . ‘ Golf on Fwiday/ We shall be winning the damned game on Fwiday .’ Fweddie , sorry , Freddie saw his golden opportunity , and sought a wager with his spluttering opponent . Reports of the stakes vary , but the odds were undeniably high .
Idiom: your guess is as good as mine (used idiomatically: yes)
Then , of course , there was Edmund Halley , he of comet fame — he was equally certain that the flooding had been caused by a passing comet . ‘ There 's no doubt there was a huge natural disaster all those millennia ago . As to its cause , take your pick — your guess is as good as mine . Reverting to the situation we find ourselves in at this moment , there are four facts that can be regarded as certainties or near - certainties . Santorini is about as stable as the proverbial blancmange .