Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: way to go (used idiomatically: no)
Although the details of the meeting are not public , its relative success is clear , as the parties are to reconvene on November 7 - 8 . Rapprochement between Iran and the West – above all between Iran and the United ~ States – would have positive geostrategic consequences across the Middle ~ East . Iran has a long way to go , of course , to bring about permanent improvement in its relations with the West ; but what Iran needs to do is not the only impediment . Other strategic actors must also be taken into account . Without a doubt , Israel will be a major obstacle to reaching an agreement .
Idiom: below par (used idiomatically: yes)
Burton 's Welsh and hungry and visceral sense that everything had to be grabbed or it would be lost forever would be reinforced at this critical stage in his life by the fatalistically hedonistic mood which infected so many . He left Oxford in autumn 1944 to do his training at Torquay . His eyesight was below par which disqualified him from being a pilot — and annoyed him a lot— but he passed out as a navigator . ( He had left Oxford , incidentally , as one of the twelve prize - winning cadets . ) The mysterious pattern of war decreed that he sail to Canada on the Aquitania .
Idiom: child's play (used idiomatically: yes)
It pays to plant to scale . That is , if you do n't want to risk a 10 ft sunflower towering out of your windowbox . Gardening : Your plot could be child 's play Most gardens designed with children in mind are safe but dull . Barbera Garfi suggests one that will work its magic on them By BARBERA GARFI
Idiom: run a mile (used idiomatically: yes)
'Cos , like , just 'cos you 're gettin ' on a bit does n't mean you ca n't wear fab gear an ' pull groovy chicks an ' that . Look at me . I run 45 miles a day , drink Peruvian spring water an ' live on a diet of nuts . So I can ' ave my picture in Vanity Fair wearing purple an ' yellow tights , an ' I do n't look anyfink at all like a sad old queen who 's seen much better days . Right ?
Idiom: on someone's mind (used idiomatically: yes)
I had to find the money somewhere . The bill had arrived just before our fifth wedding anniversary , celebrated with a rare night out at the Working Men 's Club with my in - laws and Pam and her first husband , Gordon . The debt played on my mind as I half listened to a soprano trying to sing Lulu 's ‘ Shout’ . ( Maria Callas sings Little Richard . ) Having finished her spot , the soprano left the stage and rejoined her husband and the Concert Secretary who were sitting at the next table .
Idiom: out of the blue (used idiomatically: yes)
" The essence of the historical process , " says Tamara Hareven in Family Time and Industrial Time , is the meeting between an individual 's or a group 's life history and the historical moment . By the time my father could sit down with me in a pub , slightly drunk , tell me and my friends about Real Life , crack a joke about a Pakistani that silenced a whole table once , and talk about the farm labourer 's — his grandfather 's — journey up from Eye in Suffolk working on the building of the Great North Western Railway to Rawtenstall on the Lancashire - Yorkshire border , I was doing history at Sussex , and knew more than he did about the date and timing of journeys like that . My father , old but gritty , glamorous in the eyes of the class of ' 68 , a South London wide boy with an authentic background , described his grandfather 's funeral , about 1912 , when a whole other family , wife , children , grandchildren , turned up out of the blue from somewhere further down the line where they 'd been established on the navvy 's journey north . ( This was a circumstance paralleled at his own funeral , when the friends and relations of the woman he 'd been living with for part of the week since the early 1960s stole the show from us , the pathetic huddle of the family of his middle years . ) My mother 's story on the other hand was told to me much earlier , in bits and pieces throughout the fifties , and it was n't delivered to entertain but rather to teach me lessons .
Idiom: take a back seat (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ The Midlands tried back moves that were never going to work against international opposition.’ Slemen 's team have been deprived of Northern stalwarts Dewi Morris , Tim Rodber , Wade Dooley and the Underwood brothers Rory and Tony , mainly because of Saturday 's Test commitments . Slemen added : ‘ We accept we must take a back seat to the national side , but we are still determined to succeed where the Midlands and England B failed.’ North play four full internationals — Orrell 's Nigel Heslop , Bryan Barley of Wakefield , Kevin Simms of Liverpool St Helens and Steve Bainbridge from Newcastle Gosforth — while the Springboks field very much their second string but include lock Drikus Hattingh , certain to face England on Saturday . Crusaders launch London dream
Idiom: up to scratch (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ You 're all meant to be professionals,’ Wallas Ward berated them petulantly , ‘ and this sort of behaviour is unforgiveable . We already have our problems with this show , and we 're at a very pivotal point . If we are to survive in the West End , we have to guarantee that every performance is up to scratch . Nothing brings a show 's reputation down quicker than the rumour going round the business that the cast has started sending it up . You really should know better.’
Idiom: in the black (used idiomatically: yes)
But much of what they buy ends up being returned or hidden away at the back of a drawer . Most women do n't want to be decked out in bright red suspenders , skimpy bras and G - strings . They prefer silk , satin or lace underwear in tasteful black or ivory . Most importantly , it should fit . Liz Innes , lingerie buyer for Fenwick in Bond Street says : ' It 's vital to check her bra Fashion Editorand brief size . '
Idiom: in the bag (used idiomatically: yes)
Compared with the extensive tracts of a century or so ago , there are few raised bogs left in England — a handful of sites in Shropshire and Cumbria , almost nothing in Lancashire , Cheshire and Staffordshire . Recently I stood on the dereliction that is Lindow Moss in Cheshire . Its history was revealed in the sections cut by the machines hacking out the sphagnum peat to be packed in bags and sold because people are conditioned to prefer heathers in gardens to those in their natural habitat . It was a sad sight : bare , brown and bleak . And when , only months from now , all the sphagnum peat is gone , they will start to mill the underlying fen peat to mix with droppings from battery chickens on which to grow mushrooms .
Idiom: rock bottom (used idiomatically: no)
A further drain is the central government subsidy to regional and local governments , which are increasingly in no position to generate revenues from local taxes and production . The government also subsidizes basic goods , including sugar , petroleum and wheat . Since the crisis began in the late 1970s , spending on education below tertiary level has been at rock bottom and health little better . Only the tertiary sector has maintained a larger share of the cake , an average of over 4 per cent during the period from 1978/79 and 1986/87 , compared with 1.04 per cent for general education in the decade from 1978 to 1989 ( see Figure 9.4 ) . These allocations are dwarfed by the expenditure on defence and debt service .
Idiom: cross swords (used idiomatically: yes)
The Sheriff , Mr. Truelock , was called and with two of the men set about the work of destruction . When at this point the outraged proprietor himself arrived on the scene , seized a pickaxe from a workman and defied the party to proceed , using very much improper language , the sheriff had second thoughts and counselled withdrawal . Litigation followed until finally the dispute was settled by agreement between the two parties on 16th July 1784 — twenty years after the indomitable brewer had first crossed swords with the Corporation . In old age Arthur would still come to the brewery for an hour or two every day and later ride on horseback to his flour mills at Kilmainham . View downstream from Kilmainham with site of Guinness brewery on the right .
Idiom: all along (used idiomatically: yes)
Why should I say sorry when it 's always my brother 's fault ? ’ Many mothers at the preview were worried about the level of violence in the film but the children showed remarkable insight by dismissing it as ‘ unrealistic ’ and therefore acceptable . ‘ You knew all along it was n't real , ’ said William Evans , eight . ‘ If it was then Kevin would have killed them with the first bricks he threw and that would have been the end of the film . ’ But eight-year-old James Kingston admitted that he would n't want his younger brother Henry to see the film .
Idiom: bear fruit (used idiomatically: yes)
The reality of Citrine 's position was somewhat less dramatic than was sometimes imagined by contemporaries . It is true that he knew the Prime Ministers of the later 1940s and early 1950s , Attlee and Churchill , personally , and he was not averse to breaking protocol by raising policy matters with them behind the back of their Minister of Fuel and Power on a few occasions . These occasions bore no fruit , however , and the effectiveness of his power really depended more on the skilled team he had behind him — with Sir Henry Self coordinating their relations with Whitehall from his own intimate knowledge as an ex - mandarin — and on the strength of the pressure of argument which they maintained . Citrine — sometimes with Self and Area Board chairmen , sometimes with other nationalised industries ' chairmen and sometimes alone — had irregular unminuted meetings with the Minister of Fuel and Power ( and sometimes with other senior Ministers ) at which they hammered out compromises on the more difficult policy questions . Yet months could go by without such a meeting , and they were less regular than those of , for example , the National Coal Board chairman .
Idiom: take it easy (used idiomatically: yes)
I do n't have any plans for tomorrow . I ' m going to take it easy .
Idiom: all along (used idiomatically: yes)
Disappointed Palace boss Steve Coppell refused to criticise Phelan 's decision . ‘ Terry did not string us along and was very open . He said all along he wanted to go to Manchester City , but if he could n't go there he would sign for Palace,’ said Coppell . ‘ When I heard City had lost again on Saturday I thought we would not get him — I just know how I would feel . If I was Peter Reid , I would be screaming blue murder to get this player.’
Idiom: as good as new (used idiomatically: yes)
The nylon blend does mean these trousers are tough and hard wearing . In the past six months I 've worn a pair for a variety of purposes , from rock climbing to trekking , from gardening to pubbing and they 're still presentable . I 've managed to get them pretty manky from time to time and a spin through the washing machine brings them up as good as new . They 're comfortable , too , with plenty of room where it counts . Having said this , I 'm sure some folk would prefer them a bit tighter round the seat and hips .
Idiom: show a leg (used idiomatically: yes)
Even if she said so herself , she was barely recognisable as the young woman who 'd been so distraught just a short while ago . Now a poised , elegant creature stared back , dressed in a stylish cowl - necked black dress which swooped dramatically at the back . Knee - length , it showed off her shapely legs in their black stockings and high - heeled shoes in a way that brought a faint flush to her face . It was a dress she 'd bought at Kelly 's urging , even though she 'd been positive she 'd never find occasion to wear it . ' Buy it anyway , ' Kelly had returned with her usual irresistible persuasiveness .
Idiom: have a few (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ I 'm really proud of how everybody in our band are friends and still get on . To keep that , I 'm quite willing to split the band after this tour for two years and let us all get out and try different things . We 've been together a long time and people in the band like Paul and Mark and Gaz have a few things to prove themselves . To keep us all happy and friendly and wanting to work together , I 'd split us up for a while.’ Rumours of a split surfaced during the new album sessions , produced by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth at Blue Wave Studios in Barbados earlier this year .
Idiom: leave someone in the lurch (used idiomatically: yes)
The high promise of the Berlin school , officially opened on 1 June 1790 , was unfortunately not immediately fulfilled , the teachers appearing somewhat lax in the discharge of their duties . Meanwhile in 1766 , Edward Snape , farrier to George III and to the second troop of Life Guards , published a proposal to establish in London what might be called a ' teaching hospital ' for instruction on the diseases of horses . This hospital was apparently established in Knightsbridge in 1778 , but it survived only a short while , Snape having been left in the lurch by noblemen who promised financial support . According to Smith , Snape must nevertheless be given credit for being the first to project , and actually found , a veterinary school in this country . The same year saw the foundation of the veterinary school in Hanover .
Idiom: doom and gloom (used idiomatically: yes)
NEW ~ DELHI – With the world ’s most developed economies reeling under the incubus of what is already being called the Great ~ Recession , India at the beginning of the year took stock and issued a revised estimate for GDP growth in the 2008 - 2009 fiscal year . Its projection came out at a healthy 7.1 % . It is striking that even amid all the doom and gloom assailing world markets , there is no fear of a recession in India . Even the pessimists are speaking only of lower positive growth . This is quite a turnabout for an economy that for years had crept along at what was derisively called the “ Hindu rate of growth ” – around 3 % – while much of the rest of Asia shot ahead .
Idiom: sing the praises of (used idiomatically: yes)
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists say too little data exists on the dangers of underwater birth . Our main concern is here is a method that might be a problem it 's theoretically and physiologically could be a problem , about which we do not know the extent . Many mothers sing the praises of underwater delivery . After two traditional births , Jayne Beaumont had her nine week old daughter Jessica underwater . It was peaceful , it was erm quick , it was easy , if you can call childbirth easy .
Idiom: come to a head (used idiomatically: yes)
The girls resented all the attention Peter got . But I could n't help it — I was so worried about him , everything else was driven from my mind . Things really came to a head about a month ago . Peter left school and got himself a sales job but he was discovered stealing from a customer . Fortunately , his employer was lenient and he was let off with a caution .
Idiom: lose heart (used idiomatically: yes)
He had ordered the opening of the city gates and capitulation . The boys barricaded the gates and mounted the city walls , a move probably as much a result of a popular rebellion against Lundy 's action as a defiant gesture . Once the blockade of the river leading into the city was broken by English ships , James and his besiegers lost heart and abandoned the siege . The mythical value of the siege for the construction of protestant — loyalist hegemony should not be underrated . In his highly condensed and powerful analysis , Buckley ( 1984 ) details how the siege becomes interpreted by today 's protestant loyalists according to a key paradigm mediating their experience of the world .
Idiom: up hill and down dale (used idiomatically: yes)
Truth is , a national FM network is a contradiction in terms . All this new equipment we have bought to receive FM can only get , in one engineer 's words , ‘ the best available signal’ . For anyone on a long car journey , FM will never produce a solid clear path like the long - wave ( LW ) which carries Radio 4 the length and breadth of the land , up hill and down dale . If you call the BBC Radio 3 Helpline , you will be treated kindly . I explain my particular problem .
Idiom: in the loop (used idiomatically: no)
The more precisely a theory is formulated the more falsifiable it becomes . If we accept that the more falsifiable a theory is the better ( provided it has not been falsified ) , then we must also accept that the more precise the claims of a theory are the better . ' Planets move in ellipses around the sun ' is more precise than ' Planets move in closed loops around the sun ' , and is consequently more falsifiable . An oval orbit would falsify the first but not the second , whereas any orbit that falsifies the second will also falsify the first . The falsificationist is committed to preferring the first .
Idiom: in the running (used idiomatically: yes)
But it 's a selfish family , I 'd say . They take what they want . I 'd keep him well in the running . Then of course there 's Desmond 's wife — I 'd forgotten her . I did n't get much of an impression of her .
Idiom: by the same token (used idiomatically: yes)
By PAUL TAYLOR I'M NOT a New Man ; I 'm a failed house - husband , ' moans Walter in Graham Swannell 's self - directed two - hander . By the same token , Marrakech is not a new comedy ; it is a failed feasibility study for one . All that it demonstrates , through a three - hours - seeming 75 minutes , is that counter - stereotypes tend to harden into stereotypes in their turn . Certainly , after a brief period of novelty , the hapless , aggrieved house - husband threatens to become as rigid and unexamined a comic invention as the grotesquely intrusive mother - in - law once was .
Idiom: down the hatch (used idiomatically: yes)
' The French are always washing their fannies . We even had a portable bidet for Maurice Chevalier 's safari . Down the hatch , ' she says , swallowing deeply , ' happy days . ' ' Bottoms up . To our dear President , the richest man in Africa .
Idiom: on the same page (used idiomatically: no)
A complaint made then that the definition of ‘ Scotland’ did not mention the Island of Rockall Act 1972 which made Rockall part of Scotland has had effect ; the reviewer now ungraciously points out that the discussion of what is ‘ England’does not mention section 10 of the Channel Tunnel Act 1987 , which incorporates the tunnel system up to the ‘ frontier’into England . Moreover , there remains the failure to refer to the lukewarm approach of the House of Lords to the Barras principle , the presumption that when Parliament continues to use a word which has been interpreted by the courts it intends the word to continue to have the judicial meaning , but the author can no doubt contend that the doctrine has been given a new lease of life by the Court of Appeal in EWP Ltd v. Moore , and A - G v. Brotherton . The new edition is even larger than the last and runs to 925 pages , partly because of some repetition ; for example , the full name of the privy Council is given twice on the same page as is the statement that its jurisdiction extends only to Great Britain . A host of new cases has been added . In recognition of the enlightened recruitment policies of the Parliamentary Counsel Office the ‘ draftsman’ has now become the ‘ drafter’ .
Idiom: all things being equal (used idiomatically: yes)
VALUE FOR MONEY ' There is a common belief that you get what you pay for . I submit that this is only true if all other things are equal , and that 's the catch . Some people will charge you £ 600 for a guitar with £ 50-worth of materials in it . Not me . '
Idiom: on the level (used idiomatically: yes)
The two shoot-'em - up levels are also irritatingly similar . Alas , this is n't the only fault — far from it . The controls are very difficult to master , especially on Level 5 where exaggerated momentum makes the sprites virtually uncontrollable . Even when you 've got the hand of it there 's precious little skill involved — you just stand toe to toe and hit each other ! Also , the extra energy and health power - ups appear with alarming regularity , making fights ridiculously long .
Idiom: knock it off (used idiomatically: yes)
Is it a good place to work do you like it ? Aye . Your daddy told you to knock it off now , if that goes over it 's in the fire . I think I 'll stay Kelly leave the dog alone
Idiom: in the bag (used idiomatically: yes)
They passed close to Midge and Chris . Both were crestfallen after Stevie 's erratic performance on the 17th . ‘ Buck thinks he has it in the bag , but there 's a long way to go yet.’ The wind had abated , but was still blowing in gusts from the left . The shot to that diabolically difficult green was going to be very difficult .
Idiom: make light of (used idiomatically: no)
Children whose parents set firm limits for them grow up better adjusted , with greater self - esteem , than those who are allowed to get away with behaving any way they like . What do I mean by limits ? I have in mind that point beyond which parents are no longer flexible , do n't allow their children a certain amount of leeway , are not prepared to overlook or make light of mistakes or misdemeanours . In essence they are saying : ‘ Beyond this point you can not go!’ It may be a boundary drawn for the toddler 's safety ( ‘ You are not to go out of the front gate’ ) ; it may be to do with the teenager 's wellbeing ( ‘ You do an hour 's homework’ or ‘ You have to tell me who you 're out with and where you 'll be’ ) .
Idiom: down the drain (used idiomatically: yes)
It made no sense — no sense at all . Perhaps Isabelle had n't wanted them found at all , had intended her secret , whatever it was , to die with her . But that ca n't be true , Sabine thought , or she 'd have burned the lot , and put the key down the nearest drain . No , for good or ill , they were intended for me . And now I have to make a decision .
Idiom: six feet under (used idiomatically: no)
Richmann stepped out from behind the door with a gun trained on her . Off to the side , Carrefour watched mockingly from a comfortable chair . ‘ More than six feet under,’ Richmann continued , and slipped off the safety catch . Chapter Twenty - one Benny met Richmann 's cold gaze levelly .
Idiom: one and the same (used idiomatically: yes)
Religion , morality , and a social sense - the chief elements in the higher side of man — were originally one and the same thing .
Idiom: open the floodgates (used idiomatically: yes)
I doubt if they made a single convert on the health issue during the campaign . John Smith 's shadow budget was not the triumph it was touted to be . Courageous in taking on the over - spending bogey that did such havoc in 1987 , it nevertheless opened the floodgates to a fortnight of ‘ we can give away more tax than you’ , and exchanges between the two parties of a staggering triviality that effectively supplanted any wider debate about the economy . When , in desperation , one tried to recall what exactly Labour 's alternative economic strategy was , all one could remember was ‘ training’ . Labour still either lacks , or can not communicate , a concrete vision of a modestly successful post - industrial British economy .
Idiom: spring to mind (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ He 's what I would regard as a sensible Scot someone who does n't wear Scotland on every part of his clothing , but he 's deeply interested in the Scottish Institute in terms of its members . He 's like a bulldog , he wo n't let go.’ Perhaps it was inevitable that when the Auditing Practices Board was set up in 1991 in the ashes of the old Auditing Practices Committee , Mr Morrison 's name should spring to mind as its first chairman . It would not be an easy sinecure and the job specification called for someone not only with wide experience in the profession and a clear understanding of the issues at stake , but also a cool head and tough hide in the face of the increasing political and public interest in auditing . Mr Morrison says that he took on the job ‘ because they said that it would be difficult but it had to be done and that 's what appealed to me’ .