Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: on the money (used idiomatically: no)
This meant either working out very accurate tables of the movements of the moon or devising a chronometer which could keep time for a voyage of months or years without relying on a pendulum that would be disturbed by the rolling of the ship . Progress was slow , but by the mid - eighteenth century success had been achieved in both methods of calculating longitude : the Greenwich astronomers had worked out the tables for the movements of the moon and an English watchmaker , John Harrison , had made a chronometer that kept such perfect time that it could meet the requirements of any sailor . Greenwich had begun producing a return on the money spent to launch it as an astronomical and nautical centre well before that : in the early eighteenth century French charts were still better than any others , but the table of wind movements , trade winds , and monsoons that Halley published in 1686 was a great help to navigation . In 1600 ocean voyages were a rarity in England , but by 1700 ordinary English ships were able to find their way around the Atlantic and Indian oceans with little difficulty , and the money that Charles spent on Greenwich was among the most useful items of government expenditure of his age . Earlier monarchs had spent very little on such things and had not done much about the world outside Europe or about the development of their colonies .
Idiom: do a runner (used idiomatically: yes)
and things like that I did n't have time to leave the shop . So I thought , well Ben done a runner , so I 'm gon na just sit here . thinking , where is he , and then he came back I was so angry made me sick , because yeah , I 'm saving for it , right .
Idiom: take someone to task (used idiomatically: yes)
Meet Moonshake , one of the blessed few remaining non - conformist independent groups , at Aldgate and be taken on a guided tour of the Ripper 's murder - sites . But , with typical Moonshake logic , this turns into an expedition t o soak up culture in London 's East End by visiting other , less haunted , landmarks . Between stops we can try and find out why their debut LP , ' Eva Luna ' , is such a welcome anachronism that gives a shock to the nerve - centres of the techno ' n ' grunge consensus , why rhythm is omnipotent once again and why they 've finally broken the apathetic silence by taking us all to task with some bold statements on matters of importance , instead of indistinct paeans to various objects of desire . Slide through an alleyway that seems to have history inscribed on its cobbled stones and we 've reached the first stop . Freedom Press .
Idiom: make light work of (used idiomatically: yes)
She turned her head slightly , opening her eyes to gaze at the firm , tanned hands clasping the wheel of the super - charged sports car that Ross had hired earlier that afternoon . Mercifully the Long Island Expressway , which Mrs Meadows had warned them might well be one long traffic jam , was proving to be relatively uncrowded . In fact , although the Hamptons were approximately eighty miles from the centre of New York , the fast sports car seemed to be making light work of the journey . Laura could hardly wait to meet the twins again . It was two and a half years since she 'd seen her godchildren , Emma and Sophie , who 'd last been in England with their parents on a Christmas visit , staying with Sir David and Lady Wyndham .
Idiom: neither here nor there (used idiomatically: yes)
She had meant only to run up the road for a breath of air when the rain stopped and she had been drawn on into the spring evening until now she had half an hour 's brisk walk to get home . She really should go out at unaccustomed times more often , she thought . Dinner half an hour earlier or later was neither here nor there . It was ridiculous to miss such a beautiful exciting time of day for a mark on a clock . As she came through the side roads to her house she heard a few trial notes on a wind instrument of some sort — a clarinet , was it ? a run of notes that seemed to carry on where the last solitary trill of the bird had stopped , and then a beat , beat , beat of a bass and a drum slowly swinging in , and the band , trying out their numbers high up in a house , lilted together into a piece , melancholy at base with gay little twiddles from the clarinet bravely calling that nightfall was not the end of hope , not a closure — a little bit of swing filtering over back gardens to draw people out , out into the spring night , a beat along the channels of their blood suggesting that this hour , as the light dies , as the dusk creeps along the ground , is not an ending but a beginning .
Idiom: drop a hint (used idiomatically: yes)
Ms Sheehy says she received a flat denial of any impropriety . The key difference between the charges against Mr Clinton and those against Mr Bush is that Gennifer Flowers came forward to accuse Mr Clinton , albeit lured by a large sum of money , and replete with records of telephone conversations . By contrast , neither Mr Bush 's alleged lover nor any disaffected ' friends ' have dropped even a hint to substantiate the charges . Nor has Mr Bush or any of his family ever commented on the allegations against Mr Clinton , though Mrs Clinton alludes darkly to ' Republican hitmen ' . It should also be noted that Mrs Bush is hugely popular in the country , whereas Mrs Clinton — seen by her husband as likely to be more powerful even than Franklin Roosevelt 's wife , Eleanor , — is already controversial .
Idiom: pie in the sky (used idiomatically: yes)
I would n't I would n't give them the option , I would go and ask those same ones you had in last week . As long as you 've got somebody here that can Underneath the screen up in the pie in the sky I mean that I mean I 've known that when you 've only got about that much where you should have that . and it 's maybe narrowed down to that . Which the fitters'll take the side off for 'em ,
Idiom: take stock (used idiomatically: yes)
It emerged that chief executive Phillip Kaye has reduced his stake from 8 m shares to 6 m ( 3.2 p.c . ) , selling out at 59½p . In thin conditions , a few second and third line stocks came under sudden and unexplained selling pressure . With market makers unwilling to take on stock , Watts Blake shed 23 to 345p , Johnston Group ran back 17 to 177p and Bentalls lost 7 to 98p . RPS Group sank from 24p to 16½p at one stage , before steadying at 21p . Tarmac lost 1½ to 116½ after two big lines of stock — one of 2.7 m , the other 3 m — went through the market at 114½p .
Idiom: make a virtue of necessity (used idiomatically: yes)
But their own store on Madison Avenue at 64th Street , at the epicentre of the city 's wealth and elegance , was still a giant leap . Upon its success might depend the entire future of the company . Because import duty ( 35 per cent on ornamented goods ) and freight charges , had from the start pushed prices up in the US , Peter now decided to make a virtue of necessity and deliberately aimed for an exclusive designer image with corresponding price tag . Naturally , this did not please Laura who thought the designer status was a disadvantage ‘ because people are n't so likely to think of us as a neighbourhood store ; that 's what we want to be . It 's rather like knowing your mother is always the same,’ she told reporters .
Idiom: licence to print money (used idiomatically: yes)
AND THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD … The big issue … People see music publishing as a licence to print money , which , to an extent , it is . There 's nowt folk like more than reading about a good tune , so for as long as there is pop music , there will be glossies , inkies , monthlies , weeklies , columns , companions , fanzines , tradezines , pull - outs , poster - mags , flexi - mags , the lot . But 40 years is a long , long time in the publishing caper .
Idiom: on the ball (used idiomatically: no)
Sir : Dr Beverly Halstead ( letter , 2 October ) should note that Scotland 's banks still value science . The Clydesdale Bank £ 20 note bears the head of the physicist Lord Kelvin , and on the reverse side one sees his nineteenth - century lecture theatre in the University of Glasgow . Letter : On the ball From Mr MARTIN THOMPSON Sir : Just before John Paul II was elected there was speculation that Cardinal Hume could become the first non - Italian Pope for several centuries .
Idiom: to a turn (used idiomatically: yes)
A degree of rudder / aileron co - ordination is needed in turns , but steep ones , with the upper wing almost vertical brought forth no protest from the airfoil or warning beeps from the stall horn , even at quite high g - loadings . Roll rate is satisfyingly rapid , and the 207 takes about three seconds to complete the reversal of a steep bank , one way to the other . One rather novel feature , fitted by David Fenton just after the aircraft came onto the UK register , is a Rockwell wing - leveller system which is linked to the turn & slip and the VOR . By engaging the system the Bölkow can be relied upon to tract and accurately overfly any VOR , while in non - VOR mode the aircraft can , if wished , be turned onto a compass heading using a dedicated knob on the T & S in the manner of a full - blown airliner . Since the Bölkow is designed to go places — Nigel had returned from Cannes only a few days before my flight — this is a most useful addition allowing the relaxed study of maps , approach plates etc , without the constant monitoring of the aeroplane .
Idiom: lame duck (used idiomatically: yes)
The inevitable conclusion which will be jumped to is that he is going because there is about to be some momentous U - turn over Maastricht now that Britain 's presidency of the EC is over . Mr Major can ill afford to lose Mr Garel - Jones , yet if he is determined to go , he should be allowed to get out now . There are already too many question marks hanging over this Government and too many lame ducks in it . Solo , by choice EVERY parent who has ever spent Christmas Day apart from his or her children will know what Princess Diana will go through on December 25 .
Idiom: look on the bright side (used idiomatically: yes)
Fabia stirred , awakened in her hotel bedroom that Monday and , as memory awakened with her , she abruptly closed her lovely green eyes and wished for a moment that she were back in England . A second or so later she was giving herself a mental shake and opening her eyes again . What she should be doing was looking on the bright side . The only trouble there though , she realised , as despondency tried to set in again , was that , apart from actually being in the delightful spa town of Mariánské Láznë , and actually being here in Czechoslovakia , a country she had wanted to visit , there was no other bright side . She must have been mad , totally and ridiculously mad , she thought , to have let her sister talk her into making this trip , alone .
Idiom: at the end of the day (used idiomatically: yes)
She was being ridiculous , letting things get out of proportion . She could cope . At the end of the day , she was still in charge of the club . As to her own life — of that she was n't quite so sure . ' Hi , ' she managed to summon up a smile .
Idiom: swim against the tide (used idiomatically: yes)
1 . The old climate of political opinion that was broadly hostile to the public sector had changed . The Treasury was swimming against the tide . 2 . Proposals for new projects tended to ‘ bubble up’ to Cabinet one at a time .
Idiom: on the game (used idiomatically: yes)
Coceres , playing with Seve Ballesteros , began three shots behind overnight leader David Gilford and , like Lane , shot 66 . The little - known Argentinian went to the turn in a three under par 33 , and , again like Lane , eagled the 10th with a drive , four iron and a 15 foot putt , and birdied the par five 18th after a magnificent three iron over the water . Coceres outscored Ballesteros , who could only manage a level par 72 , and said that though the Spanish maestro was one of his trate on his own game . Gilford played disappointingly after a bright start . He went to the turn in 34 , and was still two shots ahead of the field , but dropped shots at the 10th , 17th and 18th to fall back to 12 under and joint fourth place with Steve Richardson ( 70 ) .
Idiom: rule the roost (used idiomatically: yes)
I think it was fortunate that I was the eldest . I think if you 're going to be the only boy , you 've got to be the eldest . I kind of ruled the roost a bit , but we got on well . My dad always brought me up saying you never lay a finger on a woman , never ever . My sister — the one just younger than me — and I used to share all the jobs in the house — if she washed up one day I did the drying up and so on , but when my grandad came to live with us , he thought the world of her so he did all her jobs , and she 'd come to me and taunt me , and that used to incense me .
Idiom: bring up the rear (used idiomatically: no)
Next came the three fire - fighting vehicles of the town 's volunteer force , two big fire tenders and a turntable ladder . Each vehicle was crewed by two men , with Fire Chief Bob Wallace himself in the cab of the lead one . Bringing up the rear of the convoy behind the fire tenders were three huge sixteen wheeler trucks driven by Rocky , Chuck , and Red . In the rear of the lead sixteen wheeler rode Jube and the six other truckers who had been recruited by Rocky . Two of the rigs were to provide transport for the ordinary sect members , after their release .
Idiom: for Africa (used idiomatically: yes)
Such programmes in support of Africa within the framework of the New ~ Partnership for Africa ’s Development must be pursued .
Idiom: for a song (used idiomatically: yes)
Pink Floyd , in the vanguard of the drug evangelists , matched distorted , bending music to a simple , childlike tale of a transvestite , ' Arnold Layne ' ; as Syd Barrett 's deadpan vocals offered no judgement , the record was quickly banned . And in late 1966 , the Rolling Stones wound themselves up into a pitch of fury with ' Have You Seen Your Mother , Baby , Standing In The Shadow ? ' , one of the most nihilistic records ever made . Peter Whitehead 's film for the song intercut footage of a riot at the Albert Hall in September 1966 with blinding , strobe - like cuts of the Rolling Stones dressing up in drag . As Brian Jones dissolved into an amoral Pan - hysterics at the end of this incantatory footage , the equation was made clear : sexual equals social revolution and something must break . ' The year 1967 was something of an annus mirabilis as far as liberal legislation in the sphere of sexual mores was concerned . '
Idiom: up and running (used idiomatically: yes)
Oh no ! Er , you know , she might get it . But she 's more organised than these lads you see , whatever the duties are you know , she 's got hers up and running and whereas they 're still a bit you know have n't got it going as well as she has . So er I says well worth a go ! In for a penny in for a pound !
Idiom: in the flesh (used idiomatically: yes)
She came even closer and emitted a sound like laughter . She touched a finger to Tallis , then to herself , trying to communicate in some way . Tallis touched her own fingers to the sharp holly on the female 's belly and something fluttered in the wood - flesh , causing the mythago pain . The black fungal mass of her sex quivered , and odd sounds came from the Green Jack 's hollow mouth , like whistling gasps . And in her body , the struggling of wings …
Idiom: at a stretch (used idiomatically: no)
The front kick 1 : begin by driving the hips forward . 2 Bring the knee up into a cocked position . 3 Deliver the kick to the target with the leg at full stretch , using the ball of the foot . The high side kick 1 : pull the knee up and forward , into a cocked position . 2 Deliver the kick while pivoting on the standing foot .
Idiom: cross my heart (used idiomatically: yes)
ROS makes to leave . ) ROS : He said we can go . Cross my heart . GUIL : I like to know where I am . Even if I do n't know where I am , I like to know that .
Idiom: run amok (used idiomatically: yes)
It hardly surprised her that the goldfish pool had spread so much . She had been away too long . The natives had run amok without her firm guiding hand . Something lumbered and crashed out on the sandbank . The hippos , she thought , with a sure hunter 's instinct , the hippos always mate at the full moon , to whelp during the monsoon , as they had since Tertiary times .
Idiom: ruffle someone's feathers (used idiomatically: yes)
Harrison had never tried to conceal his dislike for the Major and Carew . According to Castle gossip , he had behaved in the same way towards the Major 's predecessor . Perhaps , Carew thought , some overbearing staff officer had once ruffled his feathers . Harrison was a man who loved to harbour a grudge . Carew spoke to Regan , deliberately ignoring Harrison .
Idiom: steer clear of (used idiomatically: yes)
Pravda may write that the refugee mess has been caused by ‘ provocations’ and ‘ revanchist propaganda’from Bonn . But Moscow knows that is not the case . Mr Gorbachev could be forgiven for wishing he could plead a diplomatic cold , and steer clear of celebrations where a wake would be more apt . East Germans board trains to freedom after long , wet wait From EDWARD LUCAS in Prague
Idiom: in the pipeline (used idiomatically: yes)
The effect of manoeuvres on pressure - dependent flight instruments is to produce significant errors , together with delays in instrument response . Manoeuvre - induced errors are due primarily to the following : a ) Short term fluctuations of local pressure at the static vents during any changes of aircraft attitude ( the pressure fluctuations are due largely to variations in the airflow over the static vents , as the angle of attack varies ) . b ) Delays in transmission of pressure change to the instruments , due to viscous and acoustic effect in the pipelines connecting instruments to the aircraft 's static vents . These fluctuations and delays may be further complicated by airflow variations at the static vents induced by changes of aircraft configuration eg during the operations of flaps or landing gear . 4 .
Idiom: hot and bothered (used idiomatically: yes)
There you are … Well , now I 'm in charge of this great boarding establishment , how are we going to amuse ourselves?’ Pickerage , already flushed , looked down at the sheets , hot and bothered . ‘ I do n't know … ’ ‘ Come on , shy little miss .
Idiom: behind bars (used idiomatically: no)
Had they stewed up a supper of some giant arachnid for Tundrish ? But no , for the ex - scumnik continued : ' I yearn to run across wide grasslands with a rider on my back , my tail pluming in the wind . Yet I am so little and I live behind hard iron bars , eating synthoats … ' ' That creature is known as a horse , ' confirmed the Chef Adept , consulting his annotated menu codex . ' In this case it is a dwarf specimen , cagebred for succulence .
Idiom: laugh all the way to the bank (used idiomatically: yes)
Prisoner 's Dilemma , however , is a nonzero sum game . There is a banker paying out money , and it is possible for the two players to link arms and laugh all the way to the bank . This talk of laughing all the way to the bank reminds me of a delightful line from Shakespeare : The first thing we do , let 's kill all the lawyers . 2 Henry VI
Idiom: fall short (used idiomatically: yes)
Voice over As well as qualified psychiatrists and psychologists , the network includes people able to translate for the refugees . The Trust falls short of criticising the government 's reaction to the problem . But it points out that it has to depend on donations for its work ; and like the organisations rescuing the refugees , it is running out of money . In part two :
Idiom: carrot and stick (used idiomatically: yes)
Well a number of things . I 've mentioned a few of them . I would have a carrot and stick approach . The carrot would be much better Park and Ride , which is what they are talking about . Now what the Labour Group are doing is super , but it does n't go far enough .
Idiom: siren song (used idiomatically: yes)
William Green . All these factors were overshadowed by the political unrest in Europe , culminating in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars . Until William Green 's death in 1823 there were not many options open to those people who had the leisure to travel even if they could resist the siren songs of the ‘ Lakes’ poets . Let us next consider the psychological and artistic impedimenta that Green brought with him into the crucible . Coming from a lower middle class Manchester family , he understood the need for hard work and this is made very clear in his diaries .
Idiom: on the horn (used idiomatically: yes)
She wiped her eyes and let the clutch in . The exit on to the Naas road was the most dangerous in Kildare . Tears blurred her vision as she swung out , hammering on the horn . She only just missed a donkey cart that was too far over to the left . The driver yelled curses at her , slashing in fright at the helpless donkey .
Idiom: part of the furniture (used idiomatically: no)
Forget about the thrills ( and more numerous spills ) of the great parliamentary debate on strikes , and most certainly forget the dreary speech of the Prime Minister , Nikolai Ryzhkov , on the utopia of the ‘ socialist market economy’ . Much more important , the interior ministry has let it be known that it is dropping its draconian controls on the use of photocopying machines . We Westerners may take them for granted as part of the furniture of any self - respecting office and available to all on every high street . Not so in the Soviet Union , where some 60,000 are reckoned to be installed . In the companies and enterprises fortunate enough to possess one , access to these necessary but — so it seems — fundamentally evil items is limited to a favoured and closely monitored few .
Idiom: on the face of it (used idiomatically: yes)
I guess … because Galileo did it , or at least if what I know about him is true , this must be true . Halloun and Hestenes describe this kind of response in ironic terms as ‘ one of the achievements of teaching passive rote knowledge’ . It may seem curious that physics , on the face of it the most challenging and exciting of disciplines , a discipline whose discoveries have transformed the world we live in , should be taught in a way which demands little creativity or imagination . Capra ( 1979 ) , himself a physicist , has argued that most physicists , despite the discoveries of twentieth - century physics , are trapped in a pre - twentieth - century way of looking at the world . Capra believes that quantum mechanics demonstrates that there is no such thing as certainty in the physical world , and that the mechanistic view of the world which dominates scientific thought should be replaced by a view of the physical world as dynamic and interconnected .
Idiom: on the money (used idiomatically: no)
Withdrawing Your Money Premier Savings is not the type of savings account for you to dip into every time you want a few pounds to spend . It is designed to give you a good return on your money over the longer term . But that does not mean your savings are ' frozen ' . So long as you give us at least thirty days notice , you can withdraw a minimum of £ 500 without penalty .
Idiom: up the river (used idiomatically: yes)
Camels were used for moving railway - trucks round the Pokrovsk yards . The spring of 1922 was the crucial period , when the unmetalled roads began to break up into mud and the rivers had not yet melted By the time grain had arrived from the Black Sea to an area north of Samara , only one in ten of the available sledges could get through to rural areas , so that instead or 48,750 pudy of corn , a mere 1,500 were delivered . The ice disappeared from the Volga in the last days of April , when steamers , tugs , and barges converged at Tsaritsyn on the warmer Lower Volga to transport supplies up the river and its tributaries . There were six village landing - points in the Samara guberniia and eight to the north and south of Saratov . This campaign suffered from the reduction of the river fleet from four to two thousand steamers between 1917 and 1921 .