Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: jump through hoops (used idiomatically: yes)
Because they feel women have lost the choice of having a home birth , midwives Valerie Taylor and Caroline Flint , Parents ' own midwifery adviser , have started Special Delivery , a private midwifery practice for women who want to have their baby at home . ‘ In 1965 , 30 per cent of women had their babies at home,’ says Caroline . ‘ Now , if you want a home birth , you have to fight and jump through hoops . We want to change this.’ Special Delivery covers you through pregnancy and birth , with comprehensive ante- and postnatal care , and , of course , a special birth package .
Idiom: make a move (used idiomatically: no)
If things go well , it is fine ; if things go ill , it is goodbye , but at little personal cost . The arguments against temporary appointments at the top of the civil service pyramid are overwhelming . It is highly unlikely that any formal moves will be made to politicize senior civil service appointments . When a vacancy occurs for the top post in a department , the tradition is for the vacancy to be discussed by the head of the civil service with the secretary of state . The Prime Minister is also consulted .
Idiom: take a bow (used idiomatically: yes)
Like , are they more sussed than the rest of us ? Have they mastered a second sight which differs from their brethren in the sense that they can appreciate things no - one else can ? or are they , in fact , totally bloody bonkers ? The Franks take a bow in Salzburg , where the only Mozzer who counts is Mozart The Franks & Walters , the men who love everyone ( l to r ) : Niall , Paul and Ashley say it with flowers Sometimes they talk sense .
Idiom: all over the place (used idiomatically: yes)
' What does my hair look like ? ' ' Your hair ? All over the place . Why ? ' ' Well , look at the other end . '
Idiom: call the tune (used idiomatically: no)
The ultimate goal is a freer , more democratic and more participatory society as a whole . This programme is bound to affect the church . The Harare Statement on Communication in Theological Education ( 1989 ) spoke of ‘ frustrations about communication in a hierarchical , authoritative and class - conscious Church , where its male clergy pay the piper and call the tune’ . Women 's alternative media One of the most significant developments in the past decade has been the growth of women 's alternative media .
Idiom: still waters run deep (used idiomatically: yes)
Jeff still rates as one of the nicest people I have ever met . The boys all liked him , too — and some of them resented being placed under my care because of the fun they knew they could be having next door . ‘ Rapids might look more exciting , but still waters run deep,’ Jeff used to say to them . ‘ You can learn a lot from Dr Streeter , so give her a chance.’ The rest of my new colleagues were less sure about what to make of me .
Idiom: turn someone's head (used idiomatically: yes)
Carson knuckled his eyes and blinked . His sight was coming back but he still seemed to have some uneven blindness , as if he were trying to look at the world through a ragged hole in a postage stamp . He turned his head from side to side trying to line up his patchy vision with the brown paper package —wherever that was . The door was solid and would hold up for quite a long time . Unfortunately the locks and hinges would n't .
Idiom: plain sailing (used idiomatically: yes)
Then came this from Billy Connolly : ‘ Before Sean Connery , Scotland was a dreary , windswept place populated by gray Presbyterians with haemorrhoids , but when he arrived there was , at last , a Scottish film star doing things that Scottish men love to do — shooting people and shagging the survivors.’ Not all plain sailing THE gales of laughter that swept through the audience at a private screening of the epic , Christopher Columbus The Discovery , this week herald a rough voyage for the costly £ 30 million saga due to open here in September . It stars Marlon Brando , Tom Selleck and the gorgeous Catherine Zeta Jones .
Idiom: recharge your batteries (used idiomatically: yes)
If on the other hand the video is to be a record of a once in a lifetime trip , you are more likely to accept the need to go fully equipped and ready for all eventualities . Here are three items to take with you when you go on holiday with your camcorder . A blank cassette — and maybe a spare — is an obvious essential ( a ) , and you will certainly need to be able to recharge your camcorder battery as you go along , so do n't forget to take your battery charger ( b ) with you . If you intend to record views of impressive scenery , it might be a good idea to take a tripod ( c ) along as well . Overleaf are some more items of ' holiday video ' equipment .
Idiom: catch fire (used idiomatically: yes)
But when an old house catches fire , no water is any use . " A flame , blood - red , spread over Margaret 's care - worn face .
Idiom: out of the blue (used idiomatically: yes)
Oh . They Out of the blue ? Well hardly out of the blue , they asked for it a week ago . I see .
Idiom: force someone's hand (used idiomatically: yes)
Stephen was close enough to his fellow evangelical , the Prime Minister Spencer Perceval , to be allowed to draft an order in council for a registry in the Crown Colony of Trinidad in 1812 . But the succeeding Liverpool administration was more cautious . Stephen felt compelled to try to force the government 's hand in extending the registry . Persuaded by him , Wilberforce introduced a bill for a registry in 1815 to cover both crown and legislative colonies . It met such opposition in Jamaica that Wilberforce was persuaded to withdraw it and settle for registries by colonial legislation .
Idiom: laugh like a drain (used idiomatically: yes)
I said George was n't familiar with the term metal . Shirley roared in amusement . I wondered if Jim would hit her or me but instead he said he supposed wooden would be all right and Shirley laughed like a drain . I told George we were having a wooden fence and he said : ‘ That 's your department.’ I beamed — I know when I 'm well off .
Idiom: take a leaf out of someone's book (used idiomatically: yes)
Their views are balanced , their visions diverse , but they have had interesting lives both here and abroad , and have each , in different measure contributed to society over and beyond their work ( one of my yardsticks of measuring people because of the effort involved ) . One is one of the most charming , musical and literary and cultured people I shall probably EVER have the privilege to know , met — as are so many such people — in our annual backbreaking endeavours sorting some 50,000 books ( annually ) for the CHRISTIAN AID BOOK SALE at the church up the road . It is one of the most FUN and PURPOSEFUL things I have every been involved with — and when interviewed on the BBC RADIO in May about it , I said that I thought industry and commerce could take a leaf out of our book and learn something from the spirit of common purpose , good humour and teamsmanship — a statement provocative enough to get transmitted , as you might imagine . And we are cheerfully helped in our work by prisoners from Saughton , who come in work parties each year . I am in the process of talking to the education co - ordinators at the prison about getting creative writing input from inmates for the project at work = British National Corpus of Current English — as the prison has had some notable successes with inmates finding new skills and talents whilst ‘ inside’ , even to the extent of prizes and publications , which must be a tremendous lift to their spirits .
Idiom: to the bone (used idiomatically: yes)
He studied at the London Hospital and Aldersgate School of Medicine . He became MRCS ( England , 1832 ) and MRCP ( London , 1837 ) . In 1834 Little went to study with Johannes Müller at the University of Berlin in order to discover what could be done to correct his deformity , which English surgeons refused to treat , leaving it to the bone - setters . During the course of dissections of cadaver club feet he recognized the role of muscles and tendons rather than bones in this deformity . In 1836 Dr Louis Stromeyer of Hanover successfully undertook tendo Achilles division for Little 's club - foot deformity .
Idiom: batten down the hatches (used idiomatically: yes)
As Mead pointed out , the numbers ( estimated at 13,000 ) are lower than at any time since the institute started counting more than 20 years ago , and well below the peak of 15,400 in 1989 . Reckless optimism about 1992 would clearly be out of place — but to hear Mead you 'd think there was a crisis of confidence in advertising not only among clients but among some of the industry 's own leading lights . The ‘ batten down the hatches’ tone of his speech , at an occasion when something cautiously up might have been more appropriate , betrayed a lot about how badly the industry — and agencies ' morale — has been damaged by the recession . And there is something to be upbeat about in 1992 : it 's an election year . Whatever advertisers and their agencies may think about the respective merits of Conservative , Labour or even Liberal Democrat administrations , general election mean a windfall of about £ 10 m worth of business for media owners and a favoured few advertising agencies — reportedly some £ 8 m of that spent by the Conservatives , £ 2 m by Labour and a meagre £ 250,000 by the Liberal Democrats .
Idiom: to the letter (used idiomatically: yes)
So top - down ( or ' conceptually driven ' ) processing works simultaneously and in conjunction with bottom - up ( or ' data driven ' ) processing . The current script recognition system processes information in a similar fashion to that of Rumelhart and McClelland 's model . The pattern recognition stage takes input of a visual kind and extracts features , which are passed on to letter and word levels of processing . However there is no feedback in our system at present . A study of the above model suggests strongly that such a feedback mechanism would facilitate recognition , if some suitable implementation could be devised .
Idiom: stay the course (used idiomatically: yes)
But if I want to play real loud I just go down to my basement — I have a stack down in my basement and just crank that up!’ Your gear comes in for some heavy duty usage . Do you have a favourite guitar at home that you dare n't take out live in case it does n't stay the course ? ‘ I have a ton of guitars at home . I 'll take a ‘ 56 Strat out with me — bang it around , scratch it , drop it — I do n't really care .
Idiom: by hook or by crook (used idiomatically: yes)
He went on to add that disgruntled acid house partygoers were thought to be behind the vandalism . ‘ We believe this is a protest . We have had forewarning of a number of acid house parties and we 've managed , by hook or by crook , to stop them.’ Reflecting growing concern about the use of national park locations for all - night raves , he added that ‘ many quarry sites have flat areas of ground with a good sound panel , and are also remote.’ Bill Wright , Access and Conservation officer of the BMC , also condemned the vandalism .
Idiom: few and far between (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Are you in a hurry to be off , or would you like some lunch?’ That Sunday marked the beginning of a new phase in Leonora 's life . The mere fact that Penry Vaughan wished to go on seeing her , however few and far between their meetings , did wonders for her self - esteem . It also compensated very thoroughly for the disaster of her relationship with Guy , who received short shrift when he telephoned on his return to London from Wales . She made no mention of her disastrous trip to Brynteg , told him she 'd met someone else , and wished him good luck with deliberate finality when she said goodbye .
Idiom: with a vengeance (used idiomatically: yes)
Pray you , Judith , pick out a likely girl to serve as her maid , and , Eleanor , fetch some of my gowns . She must look her best for my lord fitzAlan.’ This jerked the real Isabel back to the Queen 's solar with a vengeance . ‘ But madam , I am here to serve you,’ she began , belatedly hearing these commands . Matilda was speaking as though she was a guest , she realised , startled .
Idiom: from scratch (used idiomatically: yes)
While financial institutions can see that such technology saves them cash , companies that find it more difficult to calculate the cost of a breakdown are more reluctant to commit . As for Unix , Morales said that Stratus has met similar problems to other manufacturers — many customers are n't willing to alter systems in which they have invested a lot of money and personnel over the years . Conversely , a number of companies that are starting from scratch actually insist on Unix , and Morales attests to a growing demand for open systems in Spain . UK UTILITIES BEATEN TO REMOTE METER READING Compania de Aguas de Sabadell SA , Cassa , and Telecom Valles SA have spent about $ 50,000 on developing a system for reading water meters over the telephone .
Idiom: cut your losses (used idiomatically: yes)
But that was its first race . It did so badly afterwards that I decided racing was not for me . The first principle of success in any walk of life is to know when to cut your losses . " I was n't at all sure what he meant . Feeling remanded on bail rather than acquitted , I found a call box and rang Seddon .
Idiom: get lost (used idiomatically: yes)
Can you take these bobble in please ? Oh yeah . They 'll only get lost in mine . Look , if you put it somewhere sensible like on the side of the mirror . You 'll never guess what stupid thing she did today ?
Idiom: talk dirty (used idiomatically: yes)
This particular perversion , I notice , like every other , has been set up on a professional basis in go - getting New York . The small - ad columns of Scam magazine are full of remote - control hookers who just sit by a telephone all day for money , like Ossie Twain . You ring them up , give your credit - card number , and they talk dirty to you for however long you can afford . They 're probably cheaper than Selina , come to think of it , what with the hotel mark - up . They 're here and she 's there , after all I was on the point of signing off when Selina started telling me , in accents of alarmingly genuine arousal , about this rich new boyfriend of hers , this transatlantic moneyman , how he took her to hotels and dressed her up and fucked her on the floor like a dog .
Idiom: face to face (used idiomatically: yes)
If John and Bill have a lot in common if , for example , they come from the same community or are part of the same culture then Bill is likely to interpret most of the signals in the way John intended . However misinterpretation is always possible and it is also very possible that Bill is picking up other signals about John which John is not aware he 's sending . The ways in which we communicate in face - to - face interaction can be summarised like this : With video we have the opportunity , if we want to take it , of paying attention to the visual as well . Let 's consider the visual elements in more detail .
Idiom: state of the art (used idiomatically: yes)
Symphysis of their antipathies . Pure alchemy . Twentieth - century state of the art . Satisfied ? Any wiser , you little Cambridge shit ?
Idiom: burn rubber (used idiomatically: no)
Mansell , however , made several errors during Sunday 's race — his first drive since quitting Formula 1 last year in a row with team manager , Frank Williams , over his 1993 contract . His car barely made it across the finish line , spluttering and choking , before the fuel supply dried up . Mansell also breached a race rule just 15 laps in , had a puncture , clipped a barrier wall and left a streak of burning rubber when he roared out of the pits on cold tyres . He also suffered severe cramps in his right foot because the brake pedals were too sharp . ‘ It 's my first race so there 's a few things I 've got to work on,’ Mansell said .
Idiom: have been around (used idiomatically: no)
Alison Classe Electronic data interchange , or EDI , is another of those information technology concepts that , after politely lurking in the background for a few decades , is suddenly forcing itself on our attention with unmannerly persistence . The concept has been around for at least 30 years ; the American Hospital Supply Corporation was receiving electronic purchase orders from the hospitals it supplied in the early 1960s . Although there are plenty of small traders around to whom EDI still means nothing , BT predicts that within two to three years over 50,000 firms worldwide will be using it . Electonic data — or document — interchange differs from electronic mail in that information is exchanged in the form of structured ‘ documents’ adhering to some standard understood by both sending and receiving computers .
Idiom: in the pipeline (used idiomatically: yes)
Naturally , Fourie will be back to defend his title , a welcome injection for the championship as three more well - known names of yesterday look forward to joining the Tour — Malcolm Gregson and Spain 's former World Cup partnership of Angel Gallardo and Tenerife - born Francisco Abreu . ‘ As an Ulsterman , I 'm delighted the Telegraph are with us again,’ says Tony Gray , the tour director . ‘ There are more Senior tournaments in the pipeline , but what I want to see are more National Open championships . Right now we have the British Seniors Open and Shell Scottish Open . Soon , I hope , the Continentals will grasp the nettle.’
Idiom: mean business (used idiomatically: yes)
Moreover , they were outstripped in militancy by Ivan Cooper , who pointed to the city walls and said : ‘ We are denied the right to walk within these walls which are loved by every citizen … In a peaceful civil rights march we will walk within the walls of this city … We mean business.’ There had been a morning of heavy rain before the event and this must have reduced the expected numbers present and made it more subdued than it might otherwise have been . Loyalist opposition was minimal ; Major Ronald Bunting 's Loyal Citizens of Ulster had threatened a counter - demonstration but this was banned by Minister of Home Affairs William Craig , and the RUC sealed off the stairways to the top of the walls and erected barriers which would prevent any clash .
Idiom: in black and white (used idiomatically: yes)
I 'll get you so you wo n't even recognise your own body but after we 've done it you 'll be grateful to me that I made you do it and you 'll enjoy it and you 'll get better at it and one day you 'll thank me for doing this to you . In some of the envelopes in Boy 's shoebox were photographs . Some of these were old portraits that Boy had bought in a street market early on a Sunday morning , wing collars and moustaches printed in sepia ; some were cut from pornographic magazines or bodybuilding magazines ( in colour ) ; some were cut from newspapers ( these in black and white ) . On the back or across the front of these photographs were signatures duplicated from the letters ; John Addington Symonds , Baron Corvo , Robbie Ross , for Boy with kindest regards from Reggie Turner . There had been no attempt to make these signatures credible ; the words ‘ for my Dear and especial Boy , with affectionate regards from Mr Arthur Bloxam’ appeared across a faded nineteenth - century portrait ; but they also appeared scrawled lavishly across a portrait of an eighteen - year - old boxer torn from the sports pages of a recent newspaper .
Idiom: yes and no (used idiomatically: yes)
saying yes and a no . Mm . The reason why you say yes and no is that everybody wishes Christmas is the ideal and perfect and everybody gets together but there are so many people who are not in that position , and therefore , it emphasizes those who are not . Mhm . Beside you here .
Idiom: take a dive (used idiomatically: yes)
In ex - army gear I would n't be seen , as long as I kept still , sitting on my hands , pale face buried in a heather clump , but those long heads that rose between rasping bites of coarse grass had twitching noses that never stopped their search for the enemy — a very efficient sort of olfactory radar . Then on the slope above , there was a snort from a watchful hind and in a second every beast was in flight , careering down the hillside , leaping , bounding , in jerky yet fluid motion . A royal smashed past a few feet to my left , then another took a dive down by sheltering bank , his hooves carving into the ground just a yard from my toes and spraying my legs with black peat . I made myself very small as the stags crashed down the heathery , birch - studded hillside . I suppose they 'd all gone in half a minute but it seemed an eternity of fascination and fear to a cringing youth .
Idiom: all over the place (used idiomatically: no)
If they can have some time off I can have some time off , fair 's fair . It dries right quick , it just takes that chill off Kath you 've got alarms all over the bleeding place , what are you up to ? I ai n't done nowt . You div !
Idiom: in the dock (used idiomatically: yes)
The repercussions for Egypt , indeed for the entire Arab world , will be profound . This is not the first time that an Arab dictator has been put on trial . Saddam ~ Hussein and Zine ~ El ~ Abidine ~ Ben ~ Ali preceded Mubarak in the dock . Hussein was tried with the help of a United ~ States - led coalition ; Ben ~ Ali was tried and convicted in absentia , after fleeing to Saudi ~ Arabia . But in Egypt , “ It was done exclusively by Egyptians for Egypt , ” as a friend put it to me .
Idiom: toe the line (used idiomatically: yes)
Unless the MPs who spoke to TODAY reporters yesterday were lying , Government Whips used the tactics of the Mafia to get the majority they wanted on the Maastricht vote . No victory is worth lowering yourself that far . The activities of Whips are a mystery to most people outside Parliament but it is known that they do occasionally cajole , threaten and even bully MPs who might not toe the party line . Until Wednesday , the worst manifestation of that was warning young Members that they would not get promoted if they did not do what they were told . But that was not enough when it came to the Maastricht debate .
Idiom: behind someone's back (used idiomatically: yes)
They were dressed simply in hose and open - necked shirts . The captain of the guard led them on to the scaffold , a scrawny - faced clerk gabbled out the sentence of the court . The younger man pressed forward , his hands tied behind his back . He looked grievingly at his elder brother who muttered something . The man became calmer , sank to his knees and allowed the executioner to bend him so his neck fitted over the block .
Idiom: break even (used idiomatically: no)
But I would never … I could n't possibly have a divorce . ‘ I could n't even have a separation because I know what damage that does to the children and I would never , never , never break up the home for their sake . ’ Penny says Diana was adamant that she would not split up with Charles . ‘ So if it appears that the Princess has contrived to bring her own marriage down then that is not the case at all , ’ says Penny .
Idiom: on board (used idiomatically: yes)
What to do during the flight The anxieties associated with a journey and the change of routine can cause a general sense of fatigue which will often be increased by loss of sleep as a result of the timing of the journey . Another problem arises because the air on board the aircraft has an oxygen pressure and water vapour content that are low in comparison with ‘ fresh air ’ and such an environment tends to cause dehydration and headaches. further , the lack of movement that is possible during the flight can lead to stiffness , even cramp . Drinks Coffee , tea , and alcohol are likely to be offered , but try to limit how much of these you drink .