Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: run a mile (used idiomatically: no)
Yeah I know . I 'd laugh . They 'd run a mile . No shit ! You 're going out with that lot .
Idiom: serve someone right (used idiomatically: yes)
serves her right I was cringing serves her right It was excellent What 's this ?
Idiom: make hay (used idiomatically: no)
Now can can you just There 'd be cart there would be two cart loads anyway to making er the hay To make er That was in the harvest time for the harvest it would be oh nearly three three cart loads of sheaves for a for a stack . For a stack ? Yes for a stack .
Idiom: in the bag (used idiomatically: yes)
She hung on to the towelling and the scissors , and then looked around the dismal room to find a clean surface on which she could put them . Fascinated , Dr Neil , who had opened the bag and was beginning to pull out strange - looking forceps and a bottle of chloroform , watched her lift up her black skirt to reveal a spotless white petticoat , from which she cut a large square which she placed on the grimy table , having first cleared to one side the used cups and plates covered in half - eaten food . McAllister , coughing slightly against the stench of the room — Dr Neil was hardened to it — laid the towelling and the scissors on the clean square , and said briskly to Dr Neil , ' Is there anything in your bag which you might need urgently ? If so , you can give it to me to keep clean and I can hand it to you when you want it . Dr Bodkin of New York General told Papa once that surgical instruments should be kept absolutely spotless .
Idiom: pecking order (used idiomatically: yes)
There were 209 employees working for UNACO , thirty of those being crack field agents siphoned off from police and intelligence agencies around the world . Ten teams , each with three operatives , able to cross international boundaries without fear of breaking the law or breaching protocol . There was no pecking order ; each team had its own individuality and style . That was certainly the case with Strike Force Three . Of all his field agents Philpott had known Whitlock the longest , having personally recruited him for MIS at Oxford University .
Idiom: seen better days (used idiomatically: yes)
I began 1982 with a series of visits to look at the issues which were facing the health service . I went first to the Children 's Hospital in Birmingham . The hospital had been built as a memorial to King Edward VII and it had seen better days . The wards were crowded and even in mid - winter very sick babies had to be wheeled out into the open air to get from one part of the hospital to another . What really shocked me , however , was the sight of the babies in the intensive care unit .
Idiom: on the back of (used idiomatically: yes)
I and my family are probably typical of many potential rail customers . We travel ( with bikes ) by rail as often as possible , because rail is an environmentally - friendly way to travel . But because of increasing restrictions over the past few years we have now bought a rack to carry the bikes on the back of a car . Lost revenue for you , and more congestion and pollution for us ! What sense does that make ?
Idiom: scream blue murder (used idiomatically: yes)
Football . Love it or hate it , everyone seems to have a favourite team . Whether it 's one of the top clubs like Liverpool or Leeds or a lesser side like Accrington Stanley or Man United , there 's nothing like cheering on your team and screaming blue murder at the ‘ blind’ ref . So , who do the ZZAP ! crew support ? ( Apart from each other after lunchtime editorial meetings in the Frog & Ferret … )
Idiom: to all intents and purposes (used idiomatically: yes)
Austria and Mexico initiated the North - South conference which took place on 22–23 October 1981 . The summit at Cancun in Mexico was attended by twenty - two countries ' leaders . To all intents and purposes it was a failure . On all the major topics listed under the Programme for Survival no progress towards any international agreement or solution was made . Instead , renewed global negotiations were to be undertaken at the United Nations despite the failure of previous negotiations to achieve any concrete results .
Idiom: behind bars (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ People expect a service and we always try to help,’ he said . ‘ Con spree’ Briton held A BRITON was behind bars in Florida yesterday after allegedly admitting that he preyed on women estate agents in a trail of crime across the USA . William David Gorman , 40 , a former military policeman and cruise ship worker , is charged at Fort Lauderdale with assault , issuing dud cheques and car theft . Gorman was trapped on video at a store as he used a credit card owned by one of his victims , said police .
Idiom: muddy the waters (used idiomatically: yes)
As the ruling party in most local councils , Labour knows that failure to collect the poll tax will jeopardise service levels and jobs . There is a contradiction between the wish to protect services and the wish to protect those too poor to pay from the consequences of their inability to pay . Those who can pay but refuse to do so muddy the waters and make it more difficult for local Labour councils to adopt and sustain humane collection policies . If the ‘ refusenik’ movement succeeds , it will become impossible to separate the ‘ ca n't payers’from the ‘ can - but - won't payers’ . Escalating projected deficits in collection targets will also generate pressure for harsher penalties as the effects on services begin to be spelled out .
Idiom: in a fog (used idiomatically: yes)
London , world city Any book on London that opens with Dickens must be on the right lines . Just a few paragraphs in and we are plunged into the fog and grime of the capital : in 1817 the American Ambassador was enveloped in a midday fog in Bond Street so thick that he felt tempted to ask how the English became so great with so little daylight . On a visit to the Royal Exchange in 1826 Prince Pückler Muskau reported that it ' and the whole City have a repulsive sinister aspect , which almost reminds one of the restless and comfortless throng of the spirits of the damned ' . This is the book of the exhibition at the Villa Hügel , Essen , which examined London from 1800–1840 , a great age of expansion in trade and science , arts and scholarship ( closes 7 November ) .
Idiom: off the mark (used idiomatically: yes)
In a large field he did not have the clearest of runs as he challenged as a result of which he finished fast but too late having to settle for fourth place to the Ebor winner Quick Ransom . That form bears the closest inspection and as the six - year - old has settled into his new surroundings at the Marriott Stables I give him the edge over Newton Point , whose cause will not have been helped by the rain . On Y Va has been a model of consistency and ridden by the ebullient Newmarket based light - weight Jimmy Quinn can complete a Williams double off a favourable mark in the Syringa Handicap . Watch for Mizyan At Liverpool it should pay to give Jack Banks ' Mizyan another chance in the Oddbins handicap Hurdle as he was probably an unlucky loser last time out .
Idiom: live it up (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Well , they 're such a terrible sight , are n't they ? Their faces , I mean ; so — so grotesque . You 'd think they would n't want to be seen in public ; but no , there they are , living it up , and my own daughter aiding and abetting them as if she were doing some thing clever . That tall one , the one with his hands all over you —’ ‘ Mama , you do n't know what you 're saying.’
Idiom: slow but sure (used idiomatically: yes)
I 'm sorry not to be with you today . I 'd like to say thank you to everyone who sent the lovely cards and get well messages — they cheered me greatly . I am making good progress — slow but sure — and have now graduated on to walking sticks , although I feel very wobbly on these having had the crutches for a month . Unfortunately we have had to make some slight changes to the programme today , but hope you will like the idea of all learning something to perform for the final part of the Reunion in November . It may well inspire more of your class members to attend , and another draw will be the St. John 's Ambulance sponsored event .
Idiom: to die for (used idiomatically: no)
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 . The contra leaders were considerably less keen . North once offered Calero a bullet - proof vest —‘the same sort the President wears’— Only to find Calero shocked at the implication that he ought to be looking danger in the face .
Idiom: face the music (used idiomatically: no)
Visitors are always welcome . 40 very special years for the Bach Society THIS year the Tilford Bach Society celebrates their 40th anniversary , no mean achievement when music societies throughout the country are faced with increases costs and massive competition from alternative forms of entertainment . In 1952 Denys Darlow , then organist of All Saints church , Tilford , Barbara Gregory , a member of the church choir , and a group of local enthusiasts had the idea of combining a church with ideal acoustics , with an organist-conductor with a passion for Bach and access to young professional and semi-professional musicians . Since then many singers now internationally well-known have sung at Tilford .
Idiom: full whack (used idiomatically: no)
But I 'm very loathe to attempt to force it to be something other than that which it is . Because that which it is is profitable . But I 'm also very anxious that we receive a full percentage whack of those profits and as you can see I , over the years , I 've been very assiduous in ensuring that we do move towards that position . That that 's er a straight rent is it ? I do n't understand that term .
Idiom: crystal clear (used idiomatically: yes)
She hurried from the room , feeling a shivery tingle running down her spine . Something walking across her grave … or the forces in heaven laughing at her vain attempts to re - write her future ? Whichever , but one thing was crystal - clear and shining brightly through all the confusion : she was n't going to let herself fall in love with Luke Calder . She was n't ! CHAPTER SEVEN
Idiom: under the microscope (used idiomatically: yes)
We can take the lid off the box and poke around inside . This is the approach of the neurophysiologist . The difficulty is that , on a cursory inspection , what is inside the box is a grey mush , which , on examination under the microscope , turns out to consist of a confusingly large number of nerve cells ( some 10 11 in man ) , each connected to a large number of others . Despite this difficulty , any final account of how the brain works will have to be interpretable in terms of what its constituent nerve cells do . Some cases in which progress has been made are discussed in the next chapter .
Idiom: bang for the buck (used idiomatically: yes)
Is there any extra money for classroom use through Compact ? The Training Agency has budgeted up to El 00,000 per year for four years for the 30 Compacts in Urban Programme Areas . Local Partnerships bid for this motley , and decide where they are likely to get " the biggest bang for a buck " . It is likely that this money will help to fund administration costs , post and telephone , establishment of data bases , salaries and publicity , as well as additional funding for schools . With Training Agency Compacts , the funding has to be seen as " pump - priming " .
Idiom: in the black (used idiomatically: no)
And it was all in the days before credit cards , when hire purchase was king . Girls would save like mad for the latest clothes from Britain 's new fashion queen Mary Quant . Her London shop Bazaar sold ‘ shocking ’ evening dresses in black and white OILSKIN . Later she was to launch the mini-dress on the world . For mums it was the era of the cheap washing machine that would free them from drudgery .
Idiom: from the cradle to the grave (used idiomatically: yes)
Sandra stood by , quietly amused : she wore a sugar pink track suit with matching plastic hairslides in the shape of elephants . Edward could see quite clearly behind her shoulder , like the aura visible to spiritualists , the woman she would be in thirty years time . There is probably nothing to be done about people , he thought , nothing at all , nor ever has been : processed , from the cradle to the grave . Most neither know nor care , which makes it worse . Mrs Willmot was now going on about a film evening in October : ‘ I thought you could lay on some nature things — I know that 's your forte .’
Idiom: sing the praises of (used idiomatically: yes)
When the bass cuts in we 're in dirty funk horizons , and even if you ca n't make out what 's being said , it sounds as urgent as life . THE PRODIGY are quite , quite insane in contrast . I 'd expected some Chart Show clothes horses purveying diluted Techno , not an androgynous keyboardist , a commanding dancer and the mad hatter MC who 'd just as soon sing the praises of spliff as he 'd stare out the crowd , bug - eyes in effect . ‘ The Horns Of Jericho’ could be just that , an electronic approximation of that fateful trumpet blast that shakes the rafters . You get so scared you scuttle downstairs to await THE SHAMEN , a shudder of sanity in eye - opening Norwich .
Idiom: have a ball (used idiomatically: no)
He ate them . I should have realised that genius , as some bright spark in the office said , has a lot to do with genes . And that even if my own son ca n't read , speak French or identify Mozart concertos , he can nearly walk and he 's brilliant at heading a ball . His early promise might not match that of Nicholas MacMahon . But the way he 's going he could just end up as the next Vinnie Jones .
Idiom: sick and tired (used idiomatically: yes)
Anyway , it er , this business of erm , twenty pound increase on the T V. Yes . Quite , my goodness me , we er , surely the people must be sick and tired of this lot . All they seem to do is target the ones at the hospitals , the police , the fire brigade , everything . Even the heating , and now they 're targeting invalidity benefit yes mm
Idiom: cloth ears (used idiomatically: yes)
When he turns up , he ai n't going to want me neither . I do n't even know what he looks like.’ ‘ Bread and jam , my dear?’ said Mrs Hollidaye as though she still had her cloth - ears on . ‘ Lilian dear , what about you ? It 's the new marrow and ginger , Dorothy and I chose it this afternoon .
Idiom: fall on deaf ears (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ NO DAY - VISAS TODAY!’ Phalanxes of East German border guards barred the way to Westerners trying to use the crossing - points in the Berlin Wall as East Germany 's Communist leaders began celebrating their 40-year rule over an increasingly restive population . Protests by hundreds of Dutch , Scandinavian , West German and British people fell on deaf ears as they were turned away . Only business travellers and returning East Germans were allowed through . At Friedrichstrasse station , where many Westerners arrive on the Stadtbahn , the city railway , long queues formed .
Idiom: hot and bothered (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ For example , lovers have no secrets , Quincx . You know that , do n't you ? Instead of getting all hot and bothered and self - righteous , how about calling your legal weasels off this morning and coming over later for a meeting . Bring Ewan Famber with you , of course … , ‘ There is absolutely no proof of that …
Idiom: old as the hills (used idiomatically: yes)
But that 's alright innit , you 're just trying to get comfy . They 're old as the hills them cushions , in fact they 're Do you want tea or coffee Joy ? I do n't mind whichever one you 're making
Idiom: on the fiddle (used idiomatically: no)
It grew louder every moment . She knelt down and put her eye to the keyhole , to see what she could see . The first thing she saw was the white dog , back from its stroll , seated on a rag rug in front of a two - bar electric fire , beating its tail leisurely yet rhythmically … thump … thumppp … in time to the slow , pulsing beat of the air on the fiddle . It was a sensitive and musical dog . This sight brought her immediately down from her high , tragic pinnacle and made it seem all somehow cosier , as she thought she was sharing this music with such a wise and friendly dog .
Idiom: change hands (used idiomatically: yes)
On 6 March the Copyright Office conducted the second of two hearings to gather testimony for the recommendations it will eventually make to Congress on artists ' re - sale royalties . The first hearing was held on 23 January in San Francisco . Currently the United States does not have a droit de suite , a law that mandates that artists receive a percentage of the price of a work each time it changes hands . ( The state of California , however , has had its own such law for fifteen years , which awards an artist a 5 % royalty on the appreciated value of a work . ) Proposals for an American droit de suite seek resale royalties of around 5 % , paid by the seller of a work of art on the appreciated value of that work ( for European practice , see p. 10 ) .
Idiom: up and running (used idiomatically: yes)
But it 's still a space worth watching . NCR is worried about HP 's deepening penetration . Intel needs to do some stroking among this class of customer even though Intel defenders claim the P5 schematics designers are using in the absence of silicon are so exact they should have little trouble getting up and running and out the door once the chips are delivered . Meanwhile , Intel vociferously denied to Unigram last week suggestions circulated on the InterNet by GE 's research and development Center in New York that it 's hit a brick wall with its P5 design , is not getting the yields and is on a crash redesign course that would delay the parts until the end of next year . POWERPC ANNOUNCEMENT ‘ BY OCTOBER’— DELL COMPUTER ‘ SEEKING DEAL’
Idiom: in the bag (used idiomatically: yes)
She was fed up with her life in London , a whirlwind of social engagements which recently had seemed unbearably shallow , and more to the point she needed time to put her engagement to Jonathan , or rather her decision to break it off , into perspective . Her father had been right ; she needed the change . She picked up the bags at her feet and plodded to the white wooden door , feeling in her bag for the key . The first thing she would do , she decided , was take a walk into the little village and stock up on some foodstuffs . Things always looked better on a full stomach , and right now she was ravenous .
Idiom: eat someone alive (used idiomatically: yes)
It is a noise . But not a train . It is the noise of a foul and loathsome beast which emerges from the tunnel and drags him screaming into the darkness and eats him alive . For those who stayed with the film , like Preston , it turned out that the underground was infested with such creatures . They had once been commuters themselves but they had waited so long for trains they had taken to living permanently in the tunnels , skulking in the darkness by day and emerging late at night to devour unwary travellers .
Idiom: open someone's eyes (used idiomatically: no)
But it was impossible to distinguish between the truth of myth and the truth of reality . While we were discussing it , Kalchu was trying to inspire the calf with life . He opened its eyes , and standing astride the small body , he clasped it between his rough hands and pulled it up . When the hooves were in place on the ground he held the weight for a moment while the calf reoriented itself . Then he let go .
Idiom: watch this space (used idiomatically: yes)
Readers who came to Harvey Nichols for the show saw Linford Christie , Jeremy Guscott , George O'Dowd , Suzanne Mizzi and 50 models and 50 models all on the catwalk in the aid of charity . Raffle tickets were drawn by Ivana Trump and all proceeds went to Crusaid . Watch this space for details of our next event . Between 5 and 7.30 pm on October 1 , you 'll get a ten per cent discount . There 's free Faxe lager from Finland and prizes to be won — golf lessons at Silvermere , a pair of tickets to the Wentworth World Match Play and a chance to play the Jack Nicklaus Signature Edition computer game .
Idiom: rise from the ashes (used idiomatically: yes)
Just before Tianamen , Zhang got the Entrepreneur Of The Year Award , presented by a party chief who has since been redeployed . Alfred Yu , a university lecturer who had openly criticised that government , has remained in Australia , where he was teaching , too nervous to return . Despite the crushing of the students , he still hoped that ‘ a phoenix will rise up from the ashes . ’ This is one of those English expressions so weathered that their emotional batteries are irretrievably flat but , from the lips of someone who spoke English with the cool precision of a fluent foreigner , the phrase was terribly affecting . He probably intended it as an exact classical allusion .
Idiom: out of pocket (used idiomatically: no)
From the ivory tower of a teaching hospital this may seem unfair , but Dixon may be surprised to learn that of the 60 or so practitioners participating in the Gloucester Independent Dentists ' Group , fewer than half were drawing more than 80 % of the government 's target net income before the reduction in fees , which , incidentally , was 17.5 % gross rather than the publicised 7.5 % . It must be emphasised that the reduction in fees did not apply to laboratory costs , equipment costs , or staff costs . Thus dental surgeons were to be even more out of pocket . Dental surgeons do not even have the cheap finance available to general medical practitioners . The politics of poverty and health
Idiom: play ball (used idiomatically: no)
As the game settled down , both sides struggled to get out of mid - field on a very heavy pitch , and clear chances were few and far between . Worse was to come though for Horsham as following a fifty fifty challenge on the edge of the Abingdon area , striker Paul Walker injured himself and had to be stretchered off . In the twenty seventh minute , Abingdon scored their second when Darren Hickey played an excellent ball through to Aries and Aries lobbed it over the advancing keeper into the back of the net with Kevin Connelly following up to make certain . Horsham were unable to find a way past the Town defence however much they tried and really looked out of their depth against a slick professional erm Town side . After the break , Abingdon continued to force Horsham back , although now the pitch was beginning to make an impression on some tired legs ; there were mistakes from both sides and also some heavy tackles which resulted in long delays whilst players received attention .