Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: new blood (used idiomatically: no)
Their anxiety if they can not fill such a gap is close to laughable . Yet older people are either chopped or , worse , not given a chance . So the call is for ‘ new blood’ . You would think that a macabre form of nepotism had recruited hundreds of Count Dracula 's descendants into the higher reaches of the Civil Service . One is constantly told that the difficulty is finding young people to join the voluntary ranks .
Idiom: in the soup (used idiomatically: yes)
Each call costs 36p a minute cheap rate , and 48p at other times . Watch out for a fair- weather friend or a back stabbing buddy Wednesday and do n't be too disappointed or upset if someone you like and admire turns out to be a real rotter with feet of clay . If you ca n't get your own way or what you want by openly and honestly asking for it , do n't use sly or surreptitious methods because they could backfire and land you in the soup . Be especially wary of using emotional blackmail . Beware of the clandestine manoeuvrings of jealous colleagues or covetous rivals Wednesday .
Idiom: up to scratch (used idiomatically: no)
One wonders what became of the dispossessed . Such schemes had advantages other than the 12 per cent . If they did not reach the very poorest , they went further down the scale than most model buildings , and provided the sort of accommodation the poor were used to , despite the introduction of a guardian and a gate to keep the transients at bay and the tenants up to scratch . In 1865 Octavia Hill gave the realists further impetus when , with Ruskin 's help , she bought slum dwellings at Paradise Place to which she acted as manager , visiting the tenants frequently , in part to collect the rents which she spent on improvements . Like the Society , she intended to help the poor to help themselves .
Idiom: in bed with (used idiomatically: no)
Then she kissed Melanie goodnight on the cheek , taking her in a stiff , Dutch - doll embrace ; her arms were two hinged sticks , her mouth cool , dry and papery , her kiss inhibited , tight - lipped but somehow desperate , making an anguished plea for affection . She darted off straight after that , leaving Melanie fingering her cheek in surprise . Once she was in bed with Edward Bear , the light out , the night shut safe outside behind the drawn curtains , Melanie cried a little because she was not tucked into her bed with the satin headboard and the striped coverlet . But her new sheets smelled of lavender and there was a comforting stone hot - water - bottle at the foot of the bed , wrapped up in part of an old blanket so that it would not bruise her toes , and Victoria 's gentle breathing was drowsy as the humming of bees , and she slept , with the tears drying on her cheeks . But the texture of her sleep was light and shimmering and when she opened her eyes again much later , it did not seem as though she had slept at all .
Idiom: with a vengeance (used idiomatically: yes)
Is the Minister aware that at Leeds university top - quality alpha - grade research in technical and scientific subjects can no longer be funded ? Will he give an assurance that in future research at Leeds polytechnic will be funded under the new joint proposals ? Is he aware that such cuts in academic research will prove to be economic short termism with vengeance ? Mr. Howarth Our policy is that high - quality research should be supported in departments of universities and polytechnics , wherever they may be .
Idiom: on the face of it (used idiomatically: yes)
The geographer Vaughan Cornish tried to establish a scientific basis for the study of scenic heritage . For the popular reader the British countryside held appeal : the new magazine The Countryman was founded in 1927 and from the Batsford press came a stream of illustrated regional books on the British landscape . On the face of it , the statutory town - planning system of plan preparation and development control could meet the requirements of this new challenge . But urban sprawl and rural decay and disfigurement was often taking place in areas where local authorities were weak and where traditions of council control over development had not yet been established . Possible claims for compensation could not be faced by most councils , and in any case , there still had to be worked out a coherent land use strategy for the development of the urban fringe .
Idiom: keep the peace (used idiomatically: yes)
this turned out to be the standard stuff of innumerable intelligence reports , as Carrington got to know them better . A little fact , a lot of wishful thinking . However , the scramble to keep the peace went on . The Swedish connection , working mainly through Hermann Goering still , set up meeting after meeting , held session after session , made proposals by the score . Diplomats like Sir Nevile Henderson in Berlin — already dying of cancer — wore themselves grey and corpselike in the struggle , while in London every avenue was open .
Idiom: pecking order (used idiomatically: yes)
The puppy must be on the lowest level . Once this is established , he is quite happy . Never feed the puppy before the family — this way he understands he is last in the pecking order . Six to Twelve Months This stage can be difficult , in the same way that teenagers are difficult for human parents .
Idiom: mark time (used idiomatically: no)
I think it 's quite , quite right we should be asked to do that , it 's just unfortunate that we perhaps got over optimistic when the land sales were boom , were booming . Are you now confident about placing your faith in the adjustments that are happening with the economy ? Yes , I would hope that er this is a mark time ; it gives us a time to re - examine some of the schemes to see whether they are as financially viable as they looked er when perhaps times were better , and we would be hoping very much that er the economy will pick up and with it , land sales . I think it should in the south of England er next year or the year after , and we 'll have a number of schemes ready to go if that , that comes about . You 're listening to the Fox Report .
Idiom: behind bars (used idiomatically: yes)
But the Guinness Books Of Records actually started life as a slim pamphlet designed to stop pub squabbles . The best-selling book that will end up in 400,000 Christmas stockings this week was the brainchild of Guinness chief executive Sir Hugh Beaver and first published in 1955 , a time when the brewery owned 84,382 pubs in Britain . ‘ The idea was that each publican would have a booklet of facts behind the bar which he could use to settle arguments , ’ says the current editor Peter Matthews . Since then , not only has the number of records increased fourfold but advances in human learning have also led to amendments . In the first edition the furthest known star was put at 1,000 million light years away .
Idiom: get lost (used idiomatically: yes)
Lucien walked down endless dark corridors . His search , the place where he was needed , had now become the auditorium , the balcony where his friends were waiting for him . He was trying to find his way back , but the building was so large , so labyrinthine , he kept getting lost , seeing the same blank faces , the same corners , the same stairs . Then Jeopardy was there , coming from nowhere as people do in dreams . He took hold of Lucien 's hand .
Idiom: in stitches (used idiomatically: yes)
You do n't have to be artistic for this kind of work and the stitches used are the basic ones that many of us learned in primary school , chain stitch , lazy daisy stitch and French knots . The sample was worked with six French knots at the centre , then lazy daisy stitches around , with larger stitches again around those in two different colours to blend the petal colours . The leaves and stems are in simple chain stitch . Stem stitch which would be fine on cloth tends to get hidden on knitted fabric . It is n't a good idea to draw a sketch first of how you want the finished work to look , since it never seems to look quite the same when it is finished .
Idiom: on board (used idiomatically: no)
And every man on board , waking or sleeping , good or bad , had had a kinder word for another on that day than on any day in the year ; and had shared to some extent in its festivities ; and had remembered those he cared for at a distance , and had known that they delighted to remember him .
Idiom: bottom drawer (used idiomatically: yes)
There was a large brown wardrobe standing against the wall with a block of wood supporting one of its damaged feet . Its doors were locked . Someone had trapped folded paper in the bottom drawer and removed the handles so it could no longer be opened except , perhaps , by a very strong man . The long space between wardrobe and window was piled high with unwanted furniture , broken chairs , boxes , old gardening tools and stacks of old newspapers . He slept alone in the big double bed , curled up in his stolen greatcoat beneath a single woollen blanket exactly like the one that was nailed across the window .
Idiom: at the crossroads (used idiomatically: no)
Tell him you have Vechey 's body . If he does not collect it , the sheriff 's men who pocketed poor Vechey 's valuables , will find him a pauper 's grave ! ' ' At the crossroads , ' the fellow said , eyes rounded . ' What do you mean ? ' ' He means , Sir John , ' Athelstan interrupted , ' that Vechey was a suicide .
Idiom: to say the least (used idiomatically: yes)
Now , a slight apology to make . This , things are n't going very well for me today . In previous years I have n't had a class on the and I thought I had one this year as an experiment and er , pardon me just a second hello yes , that was a little annoying to say the least , cos those students have come in specially for that , yeah , yeah yeah yeah yeah right Oh dear right certainly not well , would it be easier to show them in my office , that 's seven , seven , seven ? Well , I could fit most of them in , I 'm currently getting in about twelve , ten or twelve , I could fit them in . Alright , let 's do that .
Idiom: dry as dust (used idiomatically: yes)
Eala Earendel engla berhtast ofer middangeard monnum sended . ( Hail Earendel , brightest of the angels , sent to men upon Middle Earth . ) The dry - as - dust scholar , the Percy Simpson sort of scholar , would merely note here that Earendel meant ' shining ray ' . Tolkien himself thought that this bright ray was the Old English word far Venus , here applied to John the Baptist , herald of the Christ . But it was not the mere surface meaning of the words which arrested him .
Idiom: put two and two together (used idiomatically: yes)
Neither Salinger nor Ross knew of my role in Cyprus as a DIA agent , and I certainly did n't tell them . Nor did their broadcasts attribute any part of the story to me — there was no reason for them to do that because I 'd told them nothing they did n't already know . But I should have guessed that Hurley and his crowd would again put two and two together and make 22 . Catch 22 . After talking to the Pan Am legal team in London , I flew back to the States to be with my family , and a few weeks later , the DEA did do something more drastic .
Idiom: in cold blood (used idiomatically: yes)
That was the terrible thing about concupiscence . The Devil and the World were easily dealt with : one could appraise coolly what they offered , balance it against eternal damnation and draw the obvious conclusion . But the temptations of the Flesh were different : they could not be dealt with in cold blood . You could not hear the voice of reason , only the terrible curiosity , insisting that it be satisfied . Underwood had satisfied it of course .
Idiom: make someone's day (used idiomatically: yes)
I feel you are all friends , so thank you for a lovely magazine . Thank you Joyce for a lovely letter . It made our day to know that MKM can help with more than just knitting advice . By now you 'll be out and about all the time on your scooter but , just in case the second Thursday of the month should dawn wet and windy again , I have chosen yours as this month 's Star Letter . How I wish I 'd seen Shirley Cowling 's article ( Nov ' 91 ) on ‘ Choosing the first machine’ eight years ago !
Idiom: play ball (used idiomatically: no)
And I think those bells are a little obnoxious . ’ The Wimbledon champion , though , had no words of condemnation for American fans , who cheered every service error by the Swiss and shouted ‘ foot fault ’ when Marc Rosset was about to serve . Nor did he take colleague John McEnroe to task for abusing the Swiss non-playing captain , hitting balls at their team and gesturing at them with his racket . Sometimes , one finds it hard to understand why Americans are so disliked on the sports field . Walsh has shock chance
Idiom: in the running (used idiomatically: yes)
But that is by the way . What is most noteworthy here is that at every stage after the first the exhaustive ballot enables voters to vote knowledgeably . After the first ballot they do not have to guess , they know that the leading contenders are Ape and Bear , that Camel may still be in the running but has a lot of ground to make up , and that Donkey and Elephant have very little hope of being elected . Voters can cast their votes in the second ballot in the light of that knowledge , and will be similarly well informed before they cast them in the third and fourth . The exhaustive ballot can be used only if the voters have the opportunity , the time and the inclination to participate in all the ballots that may be necessary — conditions that clearly can not be met in parliamentary elections .
Idiom: on the ball (used idiomatically: yes)
Also recently available from Madeira Threads is a fine , pure 100 % cotton for crochet , lace and other croft work . This is a high quality , fast dyed cotton with a mercerised finish . The eight shades — Ecru , Cream , Lemon , Mint , Pale Blue , Peach , Pink and Red — are available on 65 gram balls ( 400 yards ) , whilst White only comes on a 75 gram ball ( 450 yards ) . The cost is competitive at around £ 2.05 per ball ( any colour ) . The Oriental Collection and the new crochet cotton are now available from Madeira stockists and good craft shops throughout the country .
Idiom: on the ropes (used idiomatically: no)
However , only those who believe in God are allowed to be the King 's officials . Many of their laws and customs are very different from ours , but human nature is the same in every country . The Lilliputians , like us , have learnt bad ways — choosing officials because they are able to dance on a rope is just one example . Now I shall return to my adventures in Lilliput . About two weeks after my first visit to the capital , I was visited by one of the King 's most important officials .
Idiom: go halves (used idiomatically: no)
Rossmayne 's lineage was impeccable , his fortune large . They had brushed aside criticisms of Andrew 's recent behaviour . What man would n't go half off his head in such circumstances ? Once married to their daughter they averred , he would settle down and any scandal would soon be forgotten . They had been careful not to let Rossmayne know just how delicate Virginia 's constitution was .
Idiom: for good measure (used idiomatically: yes)
Sergeant Joe would n't want me to walk all the way , ' e'd see me straight with a bob.’ ‘ Sergeant Joe ai n't your mate,’ said Linda . ‘ ' E ai n't ' is mate,’ she said to Dolly for good measure . ‘ He looks more like someone 's bad luck , if you ask me,’ said Dolly . ‘ I like a joke,’ said Archie , ‘ but I 've got to be off , if yer'll excuse me .
Idiom: once and for all (used idiomatically: yes)
The game from that period looks just as it did when the original agreement was concluded — because of the infinite horizon assumption every subgame is identical to the original game — and so if it was in the firms ' interests to negotiate that agreement initially it will be in their interests now to renegotiate that agreement . But if firms perceive that a deviation will be followed by renegotiation rather than punishment this means that punishment would never be carried out , and so agreement to collude could not be reached in the first place . Abreu 's strategies appear to rule out such renegotiation possibilities — an agreement is made once and for all and can never be reopened . This argument leads to the renegotiation proofness criterion of credibility of threats . Punishment strategies are credible only if they are not only subgame perfect but also not capable of being pre - empted by renegotiation of the agreement if the occasion arises that they must be implemented .
Idiom: back to square one (used idiomatically: yes)
If you do n't , tear up the appraisal farms today and find a better way to assess performance and make profit . The latest fashion fur managing people successfully might be fine , but it must be based on some fundamental principles of people management . If you do n't believe in the fundamentals underlying the latest fashion , go back to " square one " and carefully examine ( and develop ) the basic principles on which you manage for profit . As soon as you have established these , systematically evaluate any management fashion being paraded around . Will it really help ?
Idiom: sleep rough (used idiomatically: yes)
with selections from Arthur Sullivan . Now both prepare to murder through the night . We 're sleeping rough . Our rusted ninth - grade Morris van
Idiom: behind someone's back (used idiomatically: yes)
I still get the comments . The only difference is that , now I 'm somebody , they do n't say it to my face . But because they do n't say it to my face , it does n't mean to say I do n't still get them : now they say things behind my back . Hope 's emergence as ‘ somebody’ was almost glacial . He turned professional in 1973 under the management of Terry Lawless .
Idiom: go without saying (used idiomatically: yes)
We must shift to realising that the destruction of nature is our destruction too . The second concerns responsibility . Historically it goes without saying that we have used all kinds of nature , and especially animals , for human benefit . We hunt , ride , shoot , fish , eat , wear , trap , exhibit , factory - farm and experiment upon billions every year . We must shift from viewing animals as made for our benefit to thinking that we must be of benefit to them .
Idiom: head south (used idiomatically: no)
Be that as it may , Pigafetta 's diaries of the journey remain the classic source for all future accounts of the voyage : he had joined the ships , he said , because he was ‘ desirous of sailing with the expedition so that he might see the wonders of the world’ . The sorry tales of sodomy and mutiny , of yard - arm justice and abrupt changes of command , and all the other trials that attended the Armada on its path south and west across the Atlantic , do not belong here . The truly important phase of the journey was to begin on Candlemas Day , 2 February 1520 , when the vessels left their anchorage in the River Plate , near today 's Montevideo , and headed south . No charts or sailing directions then existed for the coast beyond Cabo Santa Maria : no one had ventured this way before . From this moment on the sailors were passing through virgin territory , with unknown coasts , increasingly terrifying seas and temperatures that went steadily downwards day by day .
Idiom: go all the way (used idiomatically: no)
And he 's on the racetrack ! Oh God ! I 've got ta go all the way round to get a diploma and all the way round there ! And he 's doing us here boy ! The girl !
Idiom: take the cake (used idiomatically: no)
Mm yes oh in fact the favours Because that was super light and they took them . Er and was it said she saw somebody take a cake . A kilt ? A cake .
Idiom: come to grief (used idiomatically: yes)
It 's Fabia K … ’ A deer jumping out over a hedgerow and straight in front of the car frightened her half to death before she could finish . By good fortune , not to mention cool - headed driving , neither the deer nor the Mercedes came to grief . ‘ That was a touch close,’ she murmured , as the deer crossed the road and leapt over another hedge and disappeared . ‘ Is that what they call British understatement?’ he asked drolly , as they glided out of countryside and into the outskirts of Mariánské Láznë , and Fabia just had to laugh .
Idiom: in the final analysis (used idiomatically: yes)
Some further attempts to eliminate existence predicates The reductivist argument might take three different forms , which I shall label " ontological " , " epistemological " and " syntactical " respectively . The ontological version of the argument involves the claim that existential propositions , in the final analysis , can all be shown to be about certain concrete ontological items and attributes of such items . It envisages , that is , the possibility of a description of the world in which all subject terms refer to actual existents , and all explicit existential assertions give way to " existential presuppositions " . The epistemological version involves an assumption that all significant existential claims can be translated into claims about potential knowledge .
Idiom: in your face (used idiomatically: yes)
But then the Mondays , as they insist , have changed . ‘ Yes Please’ is n't about thrills and pills , it 's not meant to be consumed through a pumping club sound system , it 's altogether on a much mellower tip . Whereas the Mondays were once upfront and in your face , now they 've polished up their act , they 've sacrificed the power punch of their old menace . Gone is the Mondays ' rough and tumble free - for - all of , say , ‘ Wrote For Luck’ , replaced by the spliffed - out , laid - back groove and surprisingly sexy undercurrent of ‘ Stinkin ' , Thinkin ’’ . Even the dirty - phonecall vocals have been put on hold , with Shaun 's monochrome monotone given more emotional support than usual by Rowetta .
Idiom: round the clock (used idiomatically: yes)
LIVINGSTON GARVEY / Jamaican Car Salesman Jamaica - bound … the first consignment of second - hand Ladas destined for an island paradise . Seven years old … second time round the clock … charecterful … but it 'll fetch as much as a new one would in Britain . Ladas are prized in Jamaica because they 're cheap . They used to swap aluminium ore for shiploads of them imported from the Soviet Union .
Idiom: out on a limb (used idiomatically: yes)
Not even the raids on the town 's three gay brothels brought forth a whisper of information about Surere 's whereabouts , and after four days of intensive hunting , over ground which included the Valley of the Great Tombs on the west bank of the river , Merymose began to think that perhaps , after all , the escaped political had done as he had told Huy he would , and left for the northern deserts to found his religious community . The thought came as no relief to Merymose , for although the loss of his quarry might not mean his dismissal from the Medjays , he could expect demotion , or at best to end his days in no higher rank than he held now . He reflected gloomily on the price of his ambition , because he had gone out on a limb to persuade a mistrustful and increasingly hostile Kenamun to consent to the operation he had mounted , and then he had only achieved it by linking Surere to the serial killings . If it were now fixed in Kenamun 's mind that Surere was the killer , another murder would be all that would save Merymose 's neck . And yet he had been thorough , efficient , and ruthless in his investigation , not drawing the line at torture to extract information where he thought it might be withheld .