Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: make light of (used idiomatically: yes)
While Mrs Thatcher yesterday celebrated the achievements of the Thatcher Revolution , a spectre of the past was hovering over Blackpool — decline . Sir Geoffrey Howe delivered a sombre warning of the dangers of relapse . Both he and Mr Heseltine warned against making light of the huge trade deficit and what it said about the manufacturing base of the economy . For the first time since the end of the Falklands war there was , also , a less than total confidence among ministers in the certainty of the coming victory at the polls . I put it no higher .
Idiom: fly in the face of (used idiomatically: yes)
But the euro was not just the outcome of an idiosyncratic quest to reduce the wear on pockets stuffed with odd national coins , or to facilitate intra - European trade . The bold European experiment reflected a new attitude about what money should do , as well as how it should be managed . In opting for a “ pure ” form of money , created by a central ~ bank independent of national authority , Europeans self - consciously flew in the face of what had become the dominant monetary tradition . In the twentieth century , the creation of money – paper money – was usually thought to be the domain of the state . Money could be issued because governments had the power to define the unit of account in which taxes should be paid .
Idiom: in the offing (used idiomatically: yes)
Also , the tribunal referred in its reasons to the fact that the employee had convictions for similar offences in the past and the employer had given no warnings that repetition could lead to dismissal . Reading between the lines , the tribunal may have suspected that the employer was merely using the sentence as a convenient excuse for getting rid of a man whose record was not unblemished . The employer was forced to admit that no replacement had been engaged , which tended to indicate that a redundancy might have been in the offing . Similarly , in Moore v Central Electricity Generating Board , 1974 IRLR 296 — the facts of which may cause those interested in civil liberties some concern — an employee who had been held in custody for one month pending trial was dismissed after being convicted not of the original charge preferred but of related offences . After receiving a twelve - month suspended sentence he was dismissed .
Idiom: on and off (used idiomatically: no)
I feel it is important that you , your readers and the tennis public should know that I no longer take part in any decision making relating to the business of the company or the centre and therefore I take no responsibility , for either the success or failure of Junior Tennis Centre Ltd nor Sutton Junior Tennis Centre . The Sutton Junior Tennis Centre was officially opened in June 1991 . It is unique in that juniors come first , are welcomed at all times in and out of the club house , on and off of the courts and will never be turned off the courts by seniors . It is the first of its kind in the UK and in my view , putting the idea into practice was ‘ many years overdue’ . As co - founder , it was , for me , the culmination of ‘ a life time 's dream’ , nearly three years of work and over thirty years experience developing coaching programmes for juniors and seniors of all levels through Stonebridge Tennis and The Stonebridge Academy .
Idiom: step on someone's toes (used idiomatically: yes)
A dance floor 's for partners . Four legs behave as two on the ballroom boards . He steps on his partner 's toes Never mind dancing . He sits
Idiom: think twice (used idiomatically: yes)
But she did not believe it . She knew that she had made an impression on Nicky , simply by the way he had looked at her when he and his mother had said goodbye . Although she had not been prepared for his barrage of questions and had answered them almost truculently , she had made Nicky think twice about her simply because she seemed more direct and independent than most of the girls he knew . To say that he viewed her as a challenge would be absurd — Nicky Scott Wilson and his type were far too assured to think of life in terms of challenges . But he did find her sufficiently different to wish he knew her better .
Idiom: to all intents and purposes (used idiomatically: yes)
Intelligent moves Drag and drop movement does n't just stop there , though . The instance where you have constructed your spreadsheet , and to all intents and purposes , it 's complete . You check it through , like all good workmen do , and come to the conclusion that a range of totals is in the wrong place . You want them up at the top of the sheet , where they 're going to be seen first ( they look that good ) .
Idiom: nothing to it (used idiomatically: yes)
Why do n't they like putting it out Sid ? I do n't know . There 's nothing to it is there Sid ? Not a lot , no . It 's easy putting it out .
Idiom: up for grabs (used idiomatically: yes)
Extract 8 : Conversation A-1 This is especially true of very strong disagreements like Brenda 's father 's disagreement in Extract 8 , with his " no " repeated three times in overlap with Brenda 's talk , and his continuing to talk over her with repeated uses of " not " . In the context of the discussion , however , this disagreement is not treated as face - threatening : it is not directed at Brenda 's personal position but at a proposition ( that the existence of " halfcastes " has confused racial boundaries ) which she has articulated and which is now " up for grabs " . Thus a disagreement which would be face - threatening — and therefore avoided — in " ordinary " conversation is permissible , and non - threatening , within the confines of the discussion . Thus within this conversation , we can say that there are actually two types of talk ( at least ) going on : argument , where some of the rules of politeness governing conversation are temporarily suspended , and management , where they continue to hold .
Idiom: in the driver's seat (used idiomatically: yes)
Russell has also made only the single appearance in the green jersey — against England at Twickenham in 1990 . IRELAND 's New Zealand tour marks the end of Ken Reid 's tenure as manager and chairman of selectors with Noel Murphy taking over the reins of office on Reid 's retirement . The Belfast headmaster was highly popular , both with the players and with the media , but the Murphy appointment will mean a definite change of emphasis in the driver 's seat . While Reid , a member of the executive committee of the IRFU , concentrated on administrative affairs with the Irish squad , Murphy 's experience and expertise is much more in the coaching sphere . Capped 41 times at flanker , he played eight Tests for the British Lions in New Zealand and Australia in 1959 and 1966 .
Idiom: get the better of (used idiomatically: no)
The dog food comes in frozen slabs that must be cut up with a felling axe . Normally we heat it first and add biscuit so that the dogs have a warm , mixed meal , but tonight Odd - Knut is considering giving it to them frozen to save time . Finally his conscience gets the better of him and we break out the large billy from his sledge and light another fire in the lea of a sledge . It is miserable work as the snow is now falling thickly , the wind blowing hard . We put on the billy and head for a coffee and warm , pausing at the tent entrance to brush off the snow that is heaped on our jackets and hoods .
Idiom: take a bath (used idiomatically: no)
To go round the er , to to match , I suppose it 's the same , I do n't know . She says she 's fed up with having them there . So they had to take the bath completely out Yeah . again .
Idiom: safe as houses (used idiomatically: yes)
It would also deal with the danger posed by ardent nationalists or super - patriots who might willingly run the risk of themselves being prosecuted for war crimes if they thought their state would gain some permanent benefit from their actions . If these problems can be overcome by the planners who are now setting to work under the direction of the UN Secretary - General , the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal could be an important step in strengthening international law . Role models as safe as houses ? Did history really end when the Wall came down ? A leading French economist believes that the defeat of communism has merely presented capitalism with a new crisis .
Idiom: make the cut (used idiomatically: yes)
By Ben Findon DAVID NORRIS and Dean Standing , two of England 's best international prospects , raced into the British semi - finals of the World Championship at Stoke on Saturday . But Gordon Kennett , the 1979 world No 2 , Stoke 's Alan Grahame , an ex - British final runner - up , and Mel Taylor , a former Commonwealth finalist , failed to make the cut . Standing , 22 , of Swindon , won the quarter - final with 14 points , while Ipswich 's Norris , 19 , filled the fourth and final qualifying place on 11 . Carl Blackbird , of Long Eaton , and Stoke 's Nigel Crabtree will also be in the semi - final draw at Ipswich and Cradley on May 3 .
Idiom: out of sight (used idiomatically: yes)
Or the jurors could have taken the path they did in fact elect , which was to go to the very heart of the matter and conclude that these officers were only doing what they have been trained to do and that all the famous video footage demonstrated was that they had indeed gone by the book . Many people supposed that because Rodney King 's violent beating had been captured on video tape , his uniformed assailants would be unable to fix the reports and lie their way out of trouble . But such people forgot that for most Americans television is an inherently incredible medium , and to the extent that in the King case it might be believable , demonstrated merely that Los Angeles police officers were subduing a human who , out of sight of the video camera , might have been threatening these officers with fists , machine pistol or portable Scud missile . Just as there is life and television , with scant connection between the two , so also there is justice and symbolic justice . Symbolic justice was what the system was supposed to produce in Simi Valley .
Idiom: come to terms with (used idiomatically: yes)
Provided sado - masochism limits itself to practices between consenting partners ( and provided it does not get out of hand ) and affects no one else , it is doubtful whether remedial measures are necessary or justifiable . When , however , its satisfactions depend upon the infliction of pain or damage upon an unwilling partner , the situation is again that of using a person as a mere object : the sadist ( or , sometimes , the masochist ) may genuinely be said to be a social and personal menace . In milder manifestations , counselling in its true sense may help the individual concerned either to overcome or to come to terms with the tendency . In more severe disorders , more intensive psychotherapy or psychotherapeutic treatment may help ; if not , control by drugs or even personal containment may be necessary ( that is to say , detention not necessarily as punishment but in protection of society and its members ) . Rape and sexual assault
Idiom: square the circle (used idiomatically: yes)
Raúl ’s strategy is to pursue a Vietnamese or Chinese solution : pro - market economic reforms under continued Communist rule , with no progress on democracy or human ~ rights . For those in the United ~ States who have rightly concluded that the half - century trade embargo has proved counter - productive , this is an appealing halfway response that provides an alibi for moderation : one day , economic reforms will bring political change . For Latin ~ American pragmatists , always fearful of Cuban fifth columnists , it offers a way to square the circle : encouraging change in Cuba without going too far . And , for some European governments , it is a typical hands - off remedy that places the problem squarely in America ’s lap . But the Vietnamese or Chinese roads are unacceptable in Latin ~ America , which has made huge progress in transforming advances in democracy and respect for human ~ rights into a regional legal order that goes beyond national sovereignty or the sacrosanct principle of non - intervention .
Idiom: in full swing (used idiomatically: yes)
All tickets are priced at £ 35 enabling easy transfers . If you need urgent information you are invited to use the following telephone number but , please , only use it between 19.00 and 21.00 on Mondays to Thursdays and only if it is absolutely necessary … THERE is always much excitement in steam operations on the main line but we should not forget the amount of effort taking place on the preserved lines especially as now the Santa Season is in full swing . Remember the preserved railway near you will be operating some form of Christmas promotion this weekend . A quick telephone call will give you details and confirm the availability of seats on trains or opportunities to visit Santa , whichever you are seeking .
Idiom: spot on (used idiomatically: yes)
" I 'm sick enough already ! " Thought Spot I 've got a spot on the back of my head ! I do n't wear shirts so that 's all right . I 've got a pad at the side of my bed !
Idiom: dog tired (used idiomatically: yes)
I look at my watch . It is just past three in the morning , and the journey here has taken a little over three hours . I am dog - tired , as are the dogs . My legs are stiff with inactivity and cold and my breath freezes in front of me to obscure the view . It is groaningly cold , possibly as low as — -225 ° C ( — -13 ° F ) , although we can not be sure as Tony 's thermometer is buried under a mound of tackle .
Idiom: to the letter (used idiomatically: yes)
Why not drop us a line here at Outdoor Action ? We want to hear your views about any issue affecting the countryside . A £ 10 prize will go to the best letter published each month . Write to Outdoor Action , 13 Park House , 140 Battersea Park Road , London SW11 4NB This month the £ 10 prize for the best letter goes to Pat Weatherley , wife of Outdoor Action Chief Gear Tester Dave Weatherley .
Idiom: by the same token (used idiomatically: yes)
Burger spread his hands . ' Painters are as superstitious as fishermen . By the same token , Edwin told me that Gifford stopped using it after his stroke . ' From somewhere in the house came the rattle of teacups on a tray . Burger leaned forward quickly and , lowering his voice , said : ' Returning to our earlier subject , Garland half believed himself to be impotent he probably was , but he was obsessed by that damned girl he married and although she was good to look at , that was all — she was an immoral woman !
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: no)
Thompson is concerned to place plebeian recreations into a popular mentalité which remained active through the eighteenth century . The leisure industry was an urban phenomenon at a time when most of the population did not live in towns . For urban artisans the receiving of a handed - down leisure product is at least plausible , but in the countryside where no significant group mediated between patrician and pleb , it is much less so . Professor Plumb has suggested that commercial leisure was beginning to squeeze popular as well as " high " culture . Thompson , on the contrary , has drawn lines which link the plebs with the patricians to form a deference / patronage model making sense of many aspects of social relations in a century in which the space between an old paternalist ( master / servant ) relationship and the coming discipline of the industrial economy was filled with a plebeian culture of evident vitality .
Idiom: meat and potatoes (used idiomatically: yes)
There were a lot of arguments for this and a lot against . Eddie was used to his dinner in the middle of the day . He walked back from the shop and the plate of meat and potatoes was put in front of him with a regularity that would have pleased an army officer . As soon as Shep started his languid stroll out to meet the master at the turn of the road , Patsy began to heat the plates . Mr Hogan would wash his hands in the downstairs cloakroom and always profess pleasure at the lamb chops , the bacon and cabbage , or the plate of cod and parsley sauce on a Friday .
Idiom: feel the pinch (used idiomatically: no)
The poor were a growing problem in Tudor society , violence was never far from the surface and wealth , it would seem , could only be decreased . The squalor remained through the troubles of the Civil Wars until a new prosperity was built on the growing export of corn in the later seventeenth century . Chichester was not the only Sussex town to feel the pinch of economic decay . Slipping episcopal grandeur was matched by a wholesale decline in the ports . Seaford , Hastings , Winchelsea and Rye suffered from the old Sussex enemy , the longshore drift that silted up their harbours relentlessly .
Idiom: born and bred (used idiomatically: yes)
It must also be recognized that hospital admission can prove a particularly daunting experience for someone whose basic life - style is totally different from the British one . British food , for example , may be unfamiliar or not uncommonly , unacceptable on religious grounds , but it is very easy to get diet right if catering staff ask individuals or their relatives about their dietary habits . But most members of ethnic communities in Britain are not migrants , they are British - born and bred . One group in particular seems greatly disadvantaged by the current system and ill - served by current mental health services — service - planning for the Afro - Caribbean population often creates a great deal of dissent and anxiety amongst both service managers and service - users . For many years it has been known that black people are more likely than whites to be admitted to hospital for treatment of mental disorder , more likely to be admitted compulsorily following being arrested in a public place by the police and far more likely to be diagnosed as having schizophrenia than white people .
Idiom: turn heads (used idiomatically: yes)
He had heard about the lack of hospitals , the lack of schools ; heard that the same conditions exist throughout the Third World . And the question that had troubled him in Nairobi swelled , until he stopped the car , wound down the window and with a curious naivete called : ' Please tell me : why are the children here hungry ? ' The elderly woman turned her head as far sideways as the basket strap permitted . She eased the tea - carrier from her shoulders , lowering it heavily onto the red - dirt road . Wiping her head with the back of her hand , she balanced herself on the basket - edge .
Idiom: down the road (used idiomatically: no)
It 's , that and all is chuffing cold ! I bet them kids are cold com walking down that road . I hope to God nobody 's acce a you know , going down the road and Yeah . somebody 's mugged her or
Idiom: have an eye for (used idiomatically: yes)
Robert Burrows ' wages were often less than ten shillings a week . Fortunately both parents were experts at managing money ; Robert at saving , when and if there was anything to save ; Ella at making the housekeeping stretch twice as far as anyone else . She always had an eye for a bargain and was very astute in her shopping . Even so there were times when the money just would not stretch far enough . Queensland has a warm tropical climate and going barefoot was quite common even for the boys but some form of footwear was needed on occasion .
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: yes)
This is biggest single anti fraud measure since cards were introduced 25 years ago . The National and Provincial Building Society will be the first to bring the new photocards in next month . It 's claimed that the laser - engraved cards are fraud - proof at a cost of £ 1.20 each to produce , compared with 25p for the old cards It 's an investment that the industry hopes will beat the fraudsters hands down . This Thursday marks the ( 75th ) seventy fifth anniversary of the Royal Air Force , with almost ( 150 ) a hundred and fifty aircraft taking part in a Royal fly - past . Some are coming from as far afield as Germany , so today , despite abysmal flying conditions , they all went up for a rehearsal .
Idiom: in the saddle (used idiomatically: yes)
Puzzled , he shook his pewter - grey head . ‘ I ca n't think where I 've seen her before.’ Apart from Perdita , the Rutshire team for the Jack Gannon Cup consisted of Justin and Patrick Lombard , farmer 's sons who 'd spent their lives in the saddle and who made up for lack of finesse with dogged determination , and David Waterlane 's son , Mike , now nearly twenty - one , who played like an angel when his father was n't on the sideline bellowing at him . In an exhausting , exhilarating fortnight , they moved round the country triumphing gloriously at Cheshire , being demoralized at Cirencester , where they drew against a vastly inferior team , cockahoop at Kirtlington , and nearly coming unstuck at Windsor , where Perdita was sent off for swearing , so Rutshire had to play the last chukka with only three men , and only just won . On the first Friday in August they finally reached Cowdray and won the semi - finals by the skins of their gumshields .
Idiom: on the cards (used idiomatically: yes)
SLOW TRACK : Howard WARNED : Garel - Jones Big cuts on cards for dole AXEMAN Michael Portillo is demanding big cuts in dole cash and foreign aid from the Cabinet . The Treasury number two has targeted the most vulnerable in the drive to put the squeeze on government spending .
Idiom: rough and ready (used idiomatically: yes)
Possible savings and extra outgoings are discussed below . The most practical way of examining the list is to tick off the items in each column that you expect definitely to apply and , where possible , to write down the expenditure involved in the adjacent box ( see Budget Planner , pages 120–25 ) . While inevitably this will be a somewhat rough - and - ready exercise — and obviously there will be gaps — the closer you are to retirement , the more worthwhile it will be . The Consumers ' Association has produced an action pack Finance Your Future to help people make financial decisions prior to retirement . Price is £ 8.99 , available from bookshops or by post from Consumers ' Association , Castlemead , Gascoyne Way , Hertford X , SG14 1LH .
Idiom: make the cut (used idiomatically: no)
It is likely that this money will help to fund administration costs , post and telephone , establishment of data bases , salaries and publicity , as well as additional funding for schools . With Training Agency Compacts , the funding has to be seen as " pump - priming " . It should not be used to make good any cuts that have been sustained as a result of falling rolls , ratecapping , etc . The money is there to support innovation . It is of great importance that some of this money should go directly to support pupils ' learning .
Idiom: round the bend (used idiomatically: no)
Oh he 's into computers is he ? Yes , that 's why I 've got one upstairs . They drive you round the bend . My husband works in computers as well . They 're worse than children
Idiom: in for a penny, in for a pound (used idiomatically: yes)
You ca n't declare a whole area of the Mediterranean off - limits to all shipping for years to come . ' ' I prefaced my suggestion by saying that I was an ignoramus . Well , in for for a penny , in for a pound . Another doubtlessly ludicrous suggestion . We take it to the self - same spot and detonate it . '