Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: as luck would have it (used idiomatically: yes)
Once inside the flat , the storm broke . ' Who is he ? ' he kept repeating over and over again , stony - faced and disbelieving even when I had told him the truth . As luck would have it , Sophie had had no arrangement of her own for this evening , and , either forgetting our pact , or not taking my need for it seriously as she knew my activities were , on her terms , so innocent , had dropped in to borrow some coffee . Naturally Richard had asked her where I was and when , realizing what she had done , she said I was at her flat , he had telephoned Jack and discovered this was untrue . At first , of course , Richard did not believe me .
Idiom: play ball (used idiomatically: yes)
However , he successfully adopted his style in more than adequately coping with the West Indian fast bowling of the 1960 's . Generally top players cope with the fast , short delivery by moving back and across the crease or , as Graham Gooch , by standing his ground and putting the wight on the front foot so that the head is over the front knee . These are the two accepted ways of playing the rising ball . Increasingly Hick is having the same problem at county level as bowlers realise a potential flaw . Why has it taken so long for this in his technique to be exposed ?
Idiom: on board (used idiomatically: yes)
Cosmonaut Sergei ~ Avdeyev , currently on board the Mir space ~ station , has become the person with the longest total stay in space . He has clocked up 681 days .
Idiom: all hell broke loose (used idiomatically: yes)
The dinner itself , a ritual of many courses , begins to emerge in relays from the swing doors of the kitchen , the food bland and unexceptionable , but plentiful and somehow sanctified by being served by the immaculate waiters in sashes and gloves . So Muthaiga Club is instantly familiar . My room looks out over a croquet lawn , at the end of which is a pond thickly planted with papyrus — the eponymous plant always mentioned by school teachers in any history of written language — in which , I know with certainty , all hell will break loose as dusk falls . High on the wall of my room , near the open window , waiting for the lights to come on , a gecko is clinging on hopefully to the knobbly plaster . Unlike other members of the reptile family , the gecko is a benign creature , cheery , opportunistic and patently useful .
Idiom: down the tubes (used idiomatically: yes)
INSIDE ILLUSTRATION The Underground has become an alternative gallery for artist 's work . We go down the tube . SHOPPING FOR MATERIALS Art materials expert Martin Child discovers which acrylic brushes you should be buying .
Idiom: play ball (used idiomatically: no)
Ooh no ! What 's the matter with your knee ? Probably , I do n't know actually it 's really weird it keeps going it went once and I was playing hockey , it was really embarrassing I 'd just played the ball I 'm sure it 's going up and down those stairs that do it . Mm but this was last year and I just cleared the ball and everybody ran out ran out and I suddenly collapsed in agony on the floor cos my knee just completely gave way and it was really painful and a minute later I stood up and it was fine , it did n't give me any more hassle for the rest of the day .
Idiom: have a few (used idiomatically: no)
Oh yeah ! Have n't , have n't met him as yet . He 's they 've opened an account with us and had a few bits and baps off us , so Mm . Mm .
Idiom: take heart (used idiomatically: yes)
Steve Clark and Keith Knox scored for Alex Smith 's side in a five - minute spell in the first half before Darren Henderson got a late consolation for the Dumfries side . 930410 Lamont takes heart at high street revival By Clifford German and Alison Daniels A SURGE in high street sales last month was hailed as good news by Chancellor Norman Lamont yesterday , who said it showed that Britain was on track for economic recovery .
Idiom: two heads are better than one (used idiomatically: yes)
His partner may be much more knowledgeable . Third , it is also reasonable to assume that if there is some quality in Eve which completes Adam , that she is different and that this difference in focus can frequently add a valuable insight to the decision - making process . Fourth , ‘ two heads are better than one’ . The debate which may ensue from involving another person in a decision may at times seem to complicate things , but more often than not it adds to the validity of the decision . The marriage ceremony is not a process whereby a wife abdicates her role in the decision - making process , nor does it give husbands the right to unilateral decisions .
Idiom: see eye to eye (used idiomatically: yes)
That will be a recurring theme of my speech . Mr. David Winnick ( Walsall , North ) Is it not ironic that the Government are introducing the Bill at a time when virtually all the political parties — parties which rarely find common ground , as we have tragically and sadly witnessed over the years — see eye to eye in opposing the scheme ? When so many different strands of opinion oppose privatisation — a view that will undoubtedly be expressed today — is it not stupid for the Government to introduce the Bill in their dying days ? Mr. Needham
Idiom: get the picture (used idiomatically: yes)
She 's a vicar 's daughter but it 's alright , he 's praying for me . ' Swallow that and he 'll swallow anything . ' Got any pictures ? ' Good grief , he went for it . ' No , no pictures .
Idiom: spin a yarn (used idiomatically: no)
Happy knitting . LATCH ON SPINNING A YARN Hands up any knitter who does not have a lot of cones tucked away for use ' sometime ' . You are either very new to the game , or are terribly strong willed .
Idiom: could eat a horse (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Please do!’ He leaned against the door - jamb , his hair brushing the lintel . ‘ I could eat a horse , Madame Chef.’ ‘ No horse . You 'll have to make do with bacon.’
Idiom: tongue in cheek (used idiomatically: yes)
One of the important things we learnt at art college was how to note and store detail.’ ‘ I see , a trained eye.’ For a second or two he said nothing further , then , apparently going along with her unspoken wish to change the subject , he asked , tongue in cheek , ‘ And what did you think of our transport?’ ‘ It was like the black hole of Calcutta on wheels . I struggled off an absolute wreck.’
Idiom: one and the same (used idiomatically: yes)
Some black children may have had their first experience of Jamaican Creole from reggae lyrics , while others may have been attracted to Creole for the first time because of the music . Reggae music and Creole are closely associated , cf . Bones ( 1986b : 55 ) : " For reggae , most definitely , the music and the language are one and the same thing . The message ca n't be different because it 's one sound , one word and one mouth , people , culture and all else that related to the people of reggae and Afro - Lingua . " However , not all reggae lyrics are in Creole .
Idiom: in bed with (used idiomatically: yes)
Within minutes my offer was all over the Docherty suite , and I became the source of hysterical laughter , ridicule and abuse . Humiliated , I made my excuses — dinner with Mike Channon — and left . On returning home I retired , tucking myself up in bed with a hot toddy bottle . I had not been counting own goals for more than a few minutes when I heard extraordinary sounds coming from my wardrobe . Switching on my bedside lamp , I picked up a heavy , blunt instrument ( The Rothmans Football Yearbook 1986/87 and tore open the door .
Idiom: make light of (used idiomatically: yes)
In the public - spending round of Government it is certainly true that departments overbid on the basis that when it comes to the crunch they can bring the bid down without damage . Yet it is equally true that the Treasury just as consistently suggest economies that they do not expect to achieve but which concentrate the minister 's mind and preferably chill his blood . It is possible to make light of the process but , be under no illusion , it is a deadly serious affair . If as Secretary of State you get it wrong , then you — and crucially the people you are serving — live with the consequences for the next twelve months and beyond . And once changes are agreed , they cease to be the adjustments of the Government .
Idiom: fly in the face of (used idiomatically: yes)
It is not that established records of Cortés explicitly deny these things . They do not — for the simple reason that no such things were ever asserted about Cortés during his lifetime . But such things fly so flagrantly in the face of known history , so flagrantly in the face of human experience , so flagrantly in the face of simple probability , that they impose an inordinate strain upon credulity . As personal belief , they may be unimpugnable . But presented as historical fact , they rest on too improbable and tenuous a basis .
Idiom: born and bred (used idiomatically: yes)
( 1985 ) who , terming post - war public housing rather satirically as ‘ Utopia’ , asks : Why should Utopia have been such an all - pervading failure . when it was envisaged as a form of national salvation ? it was conceived in compassion but has been born and bred in authoritarianism , profligacy and frustration , it aimed to liberate people from the slums but has come to represent an even worse form of bondage , it aspired to beautify the urban environment , but has been transmogrified into the epitome of ugliness . Its redemption . after 40 years , is not only a matter of improving the buildings , but also of winning the hearts and minds of those who create and control them .
Idiom: on the ground (used idiomatically: yes)
CARE , the international agency that specialises in transportation , is planning an urgent programme of relief flights to all three places . It hopes to mount 15 flights a day — carrying enough food to feed 500,000 of the most desperate famine victims . The cost of chartering 15 Hercules aircraft , filling them with food and organising distribution on the ground is £6.6 million over three weeks . No charity can raise that sort of cash single-handed . It has to come from the overseas aid budgets of governments .
Idiom: on edge (used idiomatically: yes)
Two males are standing on a cliff edge and one is jumping into the sea
Idiom: on the face of it (used idiomatically: yes)
The , the goods are then handed to you . You walk out of the shop and the goods are then your property . And it seems , on the face of it quite simple and quite straightforward does n't it ? But it 's not as simple as it appears . Because just by that simple act of handing over your money at the checkout and receiving the goods in exchange , just by doing that , you have entered into a contract with the shop and as , as a result of that contract you 've got the three rights which the consumer advisor mentioned on the tape .
Idiom: spot on (used idiomatically: yes)
The significance of both the Wandjina and the markings on the rear of the Cobra 's hood are related to balance and ‘ well - being’ in Nature . The halo effect which surrounds the Wandjina 's head has always been symbolic of ‘ enlightenment’ and ‘ initiation’ . The central spot on the chest is indicative of the Heart Centre , the source of ‘ mind’ and therefore wisdom , in yogic teachings . Photo : Mark Balfour . A pair of Spectacled Cobras showing the marking on the hood .
Idiom: seal of approval (used idiomatically: yes)
Branson and Berry had brought with them a suitcase containing several thousands of American dollars , which was carried coolly through Customs , in defiance of the local currency regulations . It was enough to buy almost every available reggae singer on the island . Court was established in the Kingston Sheraton , and an emissary named Scubba dispatched to Trenchtown to seek out those artists bearing Jumbo 's seal of approval . Branson interviewed them in his hotel room , to see if they wanted a deal . They always did .
Idiom: to the letter (used idiomatically: yes)
The ordinary beginner answers this problem simply by quoting Household Fire Insurance Co . v. Grant , or some other authority to the same effect , and saying that by our law an offeror can be landed with a contract even though he never receives an acceptance , since the contract is held to be complete on the posting of the letter of acceptance . But the whole point of the question is whether Grant 's case applies to a misdirected letter of acceptance . I can not help thinking that the booby who so completely misses the point of the question is often actuated by some hidden ( and mistaken ) motive of self - preservation . He really scents the difficulty but thinks it too hard for discussion and so conveniently pretends that he has not seen it .
Idiom: an old flame (used idiomatically: yes)
Judge Peter Greenwood said : ' The cruelty you showed was without mercy and you can expect little from me . ' Royal love tape claim A RECORDING of an intimate phone call allegedly between Prince Charles and old flame Camilla Parker Bowles was made public last night . In the recording the prince is alleged to have told her : ' I adore you . .. I 'm so proud of you . '
Idiom: rock bottom (used idiomatically: yes)
The magnetic attraction and repulsion between the two has been going on for centuries . Indeed , historians have counted as many as 25 such cycles since the reign of Tsar ~ Ivan ~ III . In the past , however , Russia ’s sharp anti - Western turns were reversed – usually out of simple necessity – after relations reached rock bottom . Not this time . On the contrary , the deterioration of the relationship nowadays has developed a momentum of its own .
Idiom: scream blue murder (used idiomatically: yes)
No problems … ? Laura almost groaned out loud as she recalled Ross 's reassuring words when he 'd left for London two days ago . In fact , she did n't just feel like groaning — the frustration and worry she felt at the moment were enough to make her want to scream blue murder ! But it was obvious that giving way , by either yelling or dissolving into tears , was n't going to get her anywhere in this awful place . It was up to her to get herself and the twins out of here , back to the safety of their apartment — and clearly any display of outrage or temperament was only going to delay matters .
Idiom: new blood (used idiomatically: yes)
Cabra 's share price , down from 120p to 7¼p , values the company at less than a third of the anticipated £ 23 m . City Diary : Flannel in fashion at Laura Ashley JIM Maxmin , Laura Ashley 's ebullient new American chief executive , may be just the sort of new blood the company needs , but his transatlantic marketing speak sits uncomfortably with the brand 's image . Do Laura Ashley customers really want a corporate ‘ mission statement’ on everything they buy ? They may ‘ share and embrace the values’ , but do they want to ‘ establish a life - long relationship’ with Maxmin and his team ?
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: no)
It was very much closer when he accompanied his ‘ Right , Boyo ’ with a jab in my ribs with his rifle butt . I crawled out of the trench and joined Taff at the Bren gun . He thrust a mug of tea into my hands , with the remark , ‘ Get that down you , Piper , and keep your head down . ’ We crouched down in the trench and drank our tea , listening to the crump , crump as two mortar shells exploded close by . It was still dark .
Idiom: hot air (used idiomatically: yes)
Return to : Clothes Show Priority Club , 15 Moorhurst Road , Castleham Industrial Estate , St. Leonards - On - Sea , East Sussex , TN38 9NB . A new world beckons . Win a hot - air balloon trip for two — and some totes Toasties ( below ) Keep elegant time with our Lorus Quartz dress watch offer ( top ) and sustain some passion with our Endless Kiss free gift lipstick ( above ) Ask Jeff
Idiom: on the cards (used idiomatically: yes)
The credit card is presented by the customer to the cashier who checks the details , in particular the expiry date of the card . 4 . An imprint of the details on the card is made on the sales voucher . 5 . The cashier should retain the credit card whilst the customer signs the sales voucher .
Idiom: on the cards (used idiomatically: yes)
There would have been the ill - lit halls , impractical sanitary arrangements , filthy rush - laid floors and sparsely furnished rooms ; and if period duplicates had existed of Elizabethan interiors or classical Queen Anne houses that showed the inadequate lighting , heating and plumbing of the sixteenth , seventeenth and eighteenth centuries , how much easier , the guests agreed , it would be to appreciate the modern refinements which their own contemporaries took so much for granted . Excitement mounted ; in her memoirs Princess Marie Louise quotes Sir Edwin Lutyens as saying , ' Let us devise and design for all time something which will enable future generations to see how a king and queen of England lived in the twentieth century , and what authors , artists and craftsmen of note there were during their reign . ' By this time Lutyens was drawing on every menu card available — not even the napkins and tablecloths escaped — enthusiastically filling them with plans and designs . No detail was to be considered too trivial or unimportant ; from the attic to the cellar the house was to be a national treasure , an accurate record for children , adults , and future historians , and a monument in minute perfection of all that was best in British workmanship . No one was to be called upon to delve too deeply into his pocket , it was agreed .
Idiom: up sticks (used idiomatically: no)
If it 's possible , make - up by natural light and always start with a clean canvas ! Foundation To give a smooth appearance and to cover all flaws , spots , thread veins and any blemishes , gently tap on your foundation . Cover - up sticks or creams and lighteners are too heavy and are invariably a different colour from the foundation . Do n't dot the foundation all over the face to begin with because it 's difficult to gauge how much is needed . Use your fingers or a dampened sponge .
Idiom: in someone's pocket (used idiomatically: yes)
Imagine yourself in your favourite shopping street . It 's a lovely sunny afternoon . You have money in your pocket , a cheque - book on you and one or two credit cards as well . It is a strange sensation , but many sense it from time to time : a consuming desire to part with money . That reckless spending feeling has gripped you .
Idiom: turn the tables (used idiomatically: yes)
Antony says hypocritically that he does n't want to cause a riot , which is just what he does do , and he leaves the plebeians in a destructive state of min , who are out to kill and destroy everything . This speech has now completely turned the play around and has begun to lead on to the tragedy at the end of it , Brutus , the nobleman 's , death . Antony has turned the tables completely and has now completely destroyed all hopes of the conspirators ever establishing themselves in Rome . To compare the two speeches , it is immediately assumed that Antony 's is the better because it has put a cover over everything Brutus had said . This should not blind us , though , of the cleverness and skill of Brutus’ speech for he said everything perfectly fairly , honestly and reasonably whereas Antony is hypocritical , dishonest and highly emotional .
Idiom: put the kibosh on (used idiomatically: yes)
SHE who 's bowled over by the attentions of a powerful , successful man begins by enjoying herself but , fatally , moves on to fantasising about their future together . He , who wishes to continue getting plenty , goes along with the plans for a better tomorrow . But tomorrow never happens — and , worse , the wife does the one thing absolutely guaranteed to put the kibosh on the whole matter . She says she 'll forgive him . Thus leaving the mistress with only her memories .
Idiom: to boot (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ You 'd better believe it . Besides , I want to watch that delightful body sashaying naked across the floor.’ ‘ Not only a chauvinist , but a voyeur to boot!’ Climbing from the warm bed , she stood at the side for a moment to stare down at him . ‘ You really and truly want to marry me?’ she asked softly .
Idiom: throw in the towel (used idiomatically: yes)
Super heavy : Mike Hopper ( Spennymoor ) bt Rod Allan ( Preston and Fulwood ) . STEPHEN Hodgson maintained his 20-fight unbeaten record with victory over Welsh champion Chris Adams in the national schools boxing championships semi - finals at Liverpool on Saturday . He forced his opponent 's corner into throwing in the towel in the second round . Joining him in the national finals at Derby in a fortnight is clubmate Craig Wake , and Darlingtons Aaron Kelly , John Lee and Jim Smith . MIDDLESBROUGH gave a gritty performance for a result that could be more important in May than the memories of the Rumbelows League Cup semi - final against Manchester United .
Idiom: spot on (used idiomatically: yes)
Greenpeace and other environmental organisations want HCFCs phased out , not increased to 300,000 tons a year as the EC proposes . The winner of the general election will have to face an unprecedented question of protocol : whether to attend Trooping the Colour on June 13 , the Queen 's official birthday or the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro , government sources disclosed yesterday . Mr Major and Mr Kinnock have said they will attend the summit , and Downing Street officials were consulting the history books yesterday to see whether there are any precedents for the Prime Minister to be absent from the traditional spot on a stand in Horseguards Parade with foreign dignitaries . Brightness faced starvation in the wild , says trainer By Stephen Mulvey in Laspi Bay , Crimea
Idiom: come clean (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ He was singing Ernie — then he chased me round the flat . Just like those Hill 's Angels . ’ Bea came clean after Benny 's star-studded send-off at a memorial service in London 's Covent Garden this week . She has now called in an exorcist from Beverly Hills to get rid of her celebrity ghosts . BENNY : Return visitor ?
Idiom: have a bash (used idiomatically: yes)
He patted her arm . ' I 'll tell you about it some time , but not now . I 'm going to change for dinner , then later on I might have one last bash at the brick wall . ' Sarella wanted to eat in her room . She continued to be its sole occupant , even though Peter was back .
Idiom: come to a head (used idiomatically: no)
‘ The boss has his reasons ’ . Jon Newsome has big trouble with his cash dispenser card — he regularly puts it in the wrong way round . And when the software in the cash dispenser was changed to return card before giving cash , he came into the bank scratching his head . He reckoned the machine had swallowed his card , cos , he said , he 'd got his money and then waited for it to come out but it had n't appeared . ‘ Look in your wallet ’ , he was told , and sure enough , there was the card …
Idiom: have a heart (used idiomatically: yes)
As people avoid more and more they become a prisoner of their anxiety . We must always remember that a panic attack has its basis in the alarm reaction which is a normal bodily mechanism which has helped to keep the species of man alive in situations of danger for thousands of years . If the mechanism made us faint , or vomit , or have a heart attack , then as cavemen we would have made very easy prey every time we encountered an animal we feared . Mankind would have died out long ago if this was the case . It is not and an acute anxiety attack will not harm you .