Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: in business (used idiomatically: yes)
Chairman I think this is probably the first time in this council chamber in twenty years that er I will probably have spoken on er social services issues er and I speak from an entirely private capacity and any information that er that comes my way is from what I might call informed members of the public erm , people who I come into contact with and from my own experiences as a ward councillor and from as we all do from time to time , my own family experience , my own domestic experiences and I do know something about the problems which are associated with the the care of elderly people er although I do n't have that problem now erm things have taken their course . Now from my observations of these debates I 've not heard anybody on this council saying council debates that there is no role for this local authority or any other local authority there is no role for them in the provision of residential care or any extension of residential care because some of our residential care is getting very , very close to providing a degree of nursing care . Nobody stands up and says that we should n't be in the business at all , we should get rid of all of them , so all the argument about how many . Every group in this council and I believe every member who speaks , agrees that we have a need to refurbish homes . So those are the positive things about which we we all agree .
Idiom: take someone to task (used idiomatically: yes)
The simple go / no - go transistor tester described in April 's EE seems to have been popular with quite a few of our readers and several of you have written with specific queries concerning the circuit used . Two of these are worthy of a wider audience and thus I make no apology for including them in this month 's Surgery ! Firstly , Martin Coleman from High Wycombe has taken me to task for not including a power on / off switch in the circuit of Fig . 4 ( April ‘ 92 ) . Martin thinks that this was probably an oversight on my part and suggests that a simple s.p.s.t . toggle switch should be incorporated in the positive supply from the 9V battery . In my defence , I should have pointed out that , provided the transistor under test ( TR1 ) is removed from the tester , there will be virtually no current drain from the supply .
Idiom: out of pocket (used idiomatically: yes)
' Annie , ' she breathed , ' let 's give up and go with it . Get it over with . ' Judi took her hands out of her pockets , and brushed her fingers up and down the front of her waistcoat . She tugged at her zips , opening little pouches in the leather . Some of the zips crept open by themselves , tooth by tooth .
Idiom: few and far between (used idiomatically: yes)
The problems involved in assessing ‘ functional importance’ render the concept highly dubious sociologically . Many critics have questioned the functionalists ' emphasis on the limited availability of talented people in societies . Are sufficiently talented people as few and far between as functionalists suggest ' ? There is much evidence to suggest ( as we have indicated in Chapter 8 on education ) that considerable potential talent is wasted , and that it is the stratification system itself which restricts the development of potentially talented members of society from the lower orders . The unequal distribution of resources in stratified societies enables the better - off to obtain privileged access to educational facilities to have their talent developed , while at the same time disadvantaging those at the bottom .
Idiom: out of order (used idiomatically: yes)
eh ? What ? was a bit out of order we have nothing to do with it hmm What ? It was an accident
Idiom: on and off (used idiomatically: no)
And scientists in the field remain ~ puzzled by the fact that most identical twins ( who share 100 % of their genes ) do not die from the same diseases . As a result , many in the scientific community are beginning to predict a decline in the role of the gene in pinpointing the root causes of diseases . It is too soon to discount genetics , however , because the science of “ epigenetics ” – the study of mechanisms for turning genes on and off , thus changing the way a cell develops without altering the genetic code – is gaining traction . Indeed , the 2012 Nobel ~ Prize in Medicine was awarded to John ~ Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for revolutionizing scientists ’ understanding of how cells develop by reprogramming DNA and cells without altering their genetic structure . In 1962 , Gurdon ’s finding that almost any cell in the body contains the complete DNA code enabled him to create a tadpole by cloning an adult frog .
Idiom: rule of thumb (used idiomatically: yes)
sentence completion . Although the test has not been standardised , it does provide the possibility of numerical scoring on a scale from 0 to 173 . The authors provide a rule - of - thumb guide to interpreting these scores . It is also suggested that the six areas provide important qualitative information with respect to a child 's command of grammar and have particular relevance to the planning of intervention . The validity of the LIT is based upon the existing research which supports imitation as an index of a child 's knowledge of grammar and the high correlations obtained when scores on the LIT were compared with other measures of language production .
Idiom: carry the can (used idiomatically: no)
Hill has ended his last three games in agony since he first suffered the muscle strain at Ipswich earlier this month . The likeliest outcome is a hernia operation and Hill 's enforced absence , starting with Saturday 's FA Cup-tie against Reading . Hill , bought as a full-back for £200,000 from Bury , but a successful implant to central defence said yesterday : ‘ I do n't think I can carry on any longer . The injury has got worse and if I continue playing it wo n't get any better . ’ City boss Peter Reid saluted Hill 's heroic performances against Aston Villa , Sheffield United and Liverpool despite the pain .
Idiom: for keeps (used idiomatically: no)
I have n't time to read newspapers , ' Carrie laughed . The letter that had caught Anne 's attention was from a girl who said she earned one pound seventeen shillings and sixpence a week . She gave her mother fifteen shillings for her keep , and had more than a pound left to spend on herself . ' Why should I marry and become the slave of a man earning four pounds a week ? ' she asked . ' I prefer to keep my dignity and freedom . '
Idiom: across the board (used idiomatically: yes)
We are an investing party , er we want to invest in Britain 's future , in the skills of its people , er so that our education and training , instead of being neglected as almost the worst in Europe during the period of Mr Baker 's government , becomes one of the best in Europe . In fact , we , we 'd create the best educated and trained work force that there is in Europe . We 've got so much to do that requires investment which is why er I have said er that we can not have in general , across the board tax cuts , er income tax cuts , because we need the money for that crucial social investment . Mr Baker 's party takes a different view ; they 've only to explain to the public how we 're going to succeed if we do n't invest in our own future , in our education and training and in good social services for our people , because I do n't see how it can be done . I think they 're being irresponsible , I think we 're being responsible , and I make no apology er for borrowing when it 's for investment in our own future , that 's what intelligent companies do , it 's what an intelligent government should do .
Idiom: out of the box (used idiomatically: yes)
There is another option — the repair shop . In most running shoes , as many of you already know , wear patterns are uneven . While the uppers often irritatingly remain almost as new as they day they came out of the box , the outsole looks as though it 's been left behind on the concrete , which of course it has . As any cobbler worth his salt will tell you , this is not the time to toss those tired but precious shoes into the nearest bin , it 's resole time . A short painless time in the shop , a little expense and those old favourites will be back on the road again .
Idiom: take root (used idiomatically: yes)
Nature becomes her own god and pantheism dances its way through the coffee houses and salons of Europe . What an irony : the great rational philosophical Enlightenment opens the door to paganism ! But some of the new philosophers and freethinkers — Voltaire ( 1694–1778 ) , for example— go the whole hog and , particularly in Catholic France , where anticlericalism spurs it on , atheism takes root . Atheism is virtually unknown in pagan and rural societies , but this new rationalism will usher it into the modern world . The Enlightenment , then , is far more than a revolution in theories of knowledge ( epistemology ) or even new methods in science and critical philosophy .
Idiom: make someone's day (used idiomatically: yes)
Behind her in the hallway was a grey Rotweiler no bigger than a pony and no fiercer than a cobra with a hangover . ' Go on , ' said Mrs Scamp . ' Make his day . ' I took a step back . With lodgers like Fang there , who needs Neighbourhood Watch ?
Idiom: see the light (used idiomatically: no)
Wendt , a noted hardcore fan way back in the days when Nirvana were still a mod band , has been presenting the acts on Saturday Night Live for some years . But Spunk , produced by Initial in conjunction with Go ! Discs , may never actually see the light of day . It 's just one of six programmes commissioned by Channel 4 to fill a slot for ‘ an original new music programme’ . Censor - taunting MADONNA has got into bed with the censor besieged Time - Warner .
Idiom: spot on (used idiomatically: yes)
He said : ‘ Clay County wrenched the muscles in his quarters when dropping his hind legs in the water jump at Nottingham , so we decided to give the Cheltenham Festival a miss and let him have a long break . ‘ I thought he would win today , getting a stone off Moment of Truth , but the second is a very good horse . ‘ It was our horse 's first run in handicap company , and the race will have put him spot on because he was still a bit rusty . ‘ He had been working well with Pat 's Jester at home and both have been going extremely well.’ Allan now plans to take Clay County to Cheltenham for the £ 8,000 Hackett Handicap Chase next Friday , while Pat 's Jester , narrowly beaten by Tipping Tim at Wetherby last weekend , is on course for Haydock 's Tommy Whittle Chase .
Idiom: cut corners (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ I see,’ Peter said , and waited . ‘ Well , the offer 's still on the table . Tell you what , no point in cutting corners , I 'll make it one - fifteen . How does that grab you ? And remember , I 'm a cash buyer .
Idiom: pull strings (used idiomatically: no)
The business of the journalist is to destroy the truth , to lie outright , to pervert , to vilify , to fawn at the feet of Mammon , and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread . You know it and I know it , and what folly is this toasting an independent press ? We are the jumping jacks , they pull the strings and we dance . Our talents , our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men . We are intellectual prostitutes .
Idiom: man and boy (used idiomatically: yes)
The company was formed on Albert Hill in 1864 and by the time it closed in 1879 it had been responsible for 40 bridges in Denmark , 20 bridges in Sweden all built in 1874 , all the viaducts on the Whitby - RedcarMiddlesbrough line including the Staithes Viaduct , Llandudno pier , a bridge in Syria , another over the Tay in Scotland and a footbridge over the Tees at Barnard Castle . Its biggest project was the Leith Docks swing - bridge over the River Liffey in Dublin in 1879 , but despite the contract being worth £ 8,143 , when the bridge first swung open Skerne Iron Works ' finances were swaying perilously . Up on Albert Hill in all likelihood its operations were on the banks of the eponymous river where the Cleveland Industrial Estate is now it had a massive and profitable operation covering 22 acres , employing 1,000 men and boys and working 90 furnaces . The real problem was the Britannia Works in Middlesbrough which Skerne acquired after leading partner Walter Pease died in 1872 . His death meant a shortage of capital .
Idiom: live in sin (used idiomatically: yes)
To explain the nature of legal change Stone offers a model that suggests first , that clients revealed the gap between current values and the law ; second , that this was followed by the attempt of lawyers and judges to narrow the gap , often by inventing legal fictions or effectively changing the law by judicial re - interpretation ( the changing definition of legal cruelty provides one example of this ) ; and third , that all this culminated eventually in legal change when the ‘ level of duplicity and hypocrisy became intolerable to law lords and legislators alike’(pp . 19–20 ) . This model , which echoes that used by Oliver MacDonagh to explain the growth in nineteenth century government , relies on a high degree of consonance in the wishes of lawyers and their clients , a not unreasonable assumption given the limited access to divorce in Stone 's period . But it is not a model that holds up for the twentieth century , when liberalization of the divorce law was not a matter of last resort but was rather always proposed as a means of strengthening the institution of marriage ( by permitting those ‘ living in sin’ to remarry ) ; when opinion shifted with dramatic speed , for example between the conservative recommendations of the 1956 Royal Commission on Divorce and the endorsement of profound liberalization given a mere ten years later by both the Law Commission and the Church of England ; and when the change in views of key institutions such as the Church of England were as important as those of lawyers . The permission given by the 1969 Act for no - fault divorce was driven as much by a profound rethinking of the sources of morality by clerical and academic opinion as by the determined pursuit of individual self - interest on the part of either the population at large or lawyers in particular . But this is not something that Stone tackles .
Idiom: at the end of the day (used idiomatically: yes)
Some £ 109 million is being held up . We made it absolutely clear to Mr. Millan and the Commission that we were prepared to be flexible and to listen to any representations . At the end of the day , however , we must ensure that the House retains control of public expenditure . That is the reality of the dispute . Hon .
Idiom: on a shoestring (used idiomatically: yes)
But for the England players having a friendly against the men of Letcombe Regis the lack of a big sponsor hinders their every effort . Female speaker You ca n't play sport properly on a shoestring so if we could get a major sponsor for the world cup it 'd put a lot of people 's minds at rest so they could concentrate on their cricket Voice over Debbie Stock plays for Letcombe alongside the men .
Idiom: stake a claim (used idiomatically: yes)
Perhaps John 's best game for us was the FA Cup 3rd round replay at Nottingham Forest in last January 1991 , when he provided the cross from the right wing from which Ian Wright volleyed our opener , and then scored our last - gasp equaliser , which showed considerable vision and no little technique , to catch the Forest goalkeeper off his line with a dipping , curling shot from some 45 yards ' range . Equally , his brace against Manchester United in our last match of 1990–91 ( co - incidentally also his own 150th Palace appearance ) demonstrated that he was on the verge of international recognition , with the second one , struck from fully 30 yards , bringing the big crowd to its feet in salute . The exciting promise John had revealed over the previous eighteen months was rewarded by a place on the England tour of Australasia in June 1991 where he demonstrated his capacity to excite the crowd and to bemuse the opposition by featuring prominently in all four matches , thereby staking a claim for a regular inclusion in the national side . SANSOM , Kenny 197 appearances
Idiom: on the ball (used idiomatically: yes)
It also proved effective . Caught at such a weak moment , the client could not help feeling the situation was urgent , and was often more susceptible to persuasion . If the dealer backed his case with some item from that morning 's news , he would appear thereby more on the ball . Of course , a tactless dealer irritated him even more at this sort of time . Many licensed dealers ' clients boast to friends of their broker or their " man in the City " , who gives them tips .
Idiom: run a mile (used idiomatically: yes)
' I 'm sure those couple of pounds less will make me even sharper . Benefits ' I 've been running three or four miles every day for a week , and using a trampoline at home to build up my fitness , and I 've been keeping a close eye on what I eat . ' It 's been sheer hard work , but worth it because I 'm feeling the benefits . ' I want to play at Liverpool , and I 'm glad I 'm back in the squad , which must mean I will come into consideration .
Idiom: be my guest (used idiomatically: no)
This is another programme in our series from the University , in which we share with you news and views concerning activities that are going on here . In these programmes , we 're talking with people in the community who have particular contacts with us . And Graham Mayhew , who is my guest today , is a particularly good example of somebody who has contact with us at all sorts of different levels . Graham , I want to start by asking you about you being Mayor . You look far too young to be a Mayor , but you 've just finished being Mayor for Lewes .
Idiom: in the dock (used idiomatically: yes)
It 's like a shelter . Unless they mean to have a marina here are they ? There 's a marina down in the docks ! Oh , I see . Well perhaps they 're going to have races or something if the
Idiom: turn a blind eye (used idiomatically: yes)
The consumerism of the twentieth century needs to be understood as a modern economic mode of hedonistic individualism . Rampant individualism finds so little interest in the collective that injustice can become the hallmark of some free enterprise systems . It should be Christians , and not only Marxists , who assert that capitalism too easily turns a blind eye to its exploitation of the Third World . It could be argued that the false views of humanity perpetrated by the Enlightenment were partly offset by Methodism and the growth of pietism in the eighteenth century . Certainly it was the case that the new religious enthusiasm that was replacing the dying Puritanism assured the individual of his intrinsic worth , and assured him also that he was loved and cherished by God .
Idiom: go bananas (used idiomatically: yes)
There was a narrow , black skirt with a slit in it hanging over his chair . It 's a sort of tapestry chair . I went bananas . Oh , Lee , you 're the gentlest person I know . I hate to burden you with this .
Idiom: give someone the slip (used idiomatically: yes)
On a trip to Dublin two of them asked and received permission to share a double room away from'the children ' . Temptation proved too strong one night when there were some naval cadets in the audience who threw flowers and chocolates up to the troupe and were waiting at the stage door after the show . Somehow the Girls gave Daisy the slip and went off with them . Daisy , of course , found out and that was the end of their independence . The landladies found the Mites well behaved ; they all had separate tasks for the day , two doing the food shopping for the troupe which the landlady would cook .
Idiom: on paper (used idiomatically: no)
In this project the APU framework with its dimensions of content , context and learning outcomes was used as an overall guide to the development of tests , the content being drawn from the suggestions in the Cockcroft foundation list . A dimension added to the APU framework for the purpose of this project was that of " Level " ; one of the principal aims of the research being to determine features of tasks which are associated with levels of difficulty . The Cockcroft foundation list is prefaced by the following statement : 458 Throughout their mathematics course , pupils should — read , write and talk about mathematics in a wide variety of ways ; carry out calculations in a variety of modes — mentally , on paper and with a calculator;— associate calculation with measurement in appropriate units and become familiar with the relative size of these units . At all stages , pupils should be encouraged to discuss and justify the methods which they use . The aim of the test development was to reflect as many of these activities as possible in the assessment modes .
Idiom: watering hole (used idiomatically: yes)
How can that be beneficial I know what you 're saying but Well I think the answer to that is you 've got to remember this kind of hunting is cooperative and cooperative hunting does rely first of all on having other men to go hunting with you which is , which is important and also or so I 'm told by people like David McKnight and Warren Shapiro an awful lot depends on information , we want to know where the game is , who saw what where , what did they catch you know , was there rainfall over the so and so ranges and so on , and you need to know that information if you 're gon na be an effective hunter and you need good communication with other men . Er very often Australian Aboriginal societies you meet men the corroborees at these ritual gatherings and if you 're one of the club , then in the ritual they 'll tell you , they 'll say hey , you know , you know you know you say where did you get all these kangaroos you know oh we got them over at the so and so ranges or down at the so and so water hole that 's where they all are this week , and this is very important information for man . If you 're not a member of the club and you 're not accepted the rituals and people do n't like you , they wo n't tell you and as a result you wo n't be an effective hunter , you wo n't be able to support many wives even if you wanted them and if you have wives what they needed , because if a man does n't feed his wives they , they , they all eventually get up and go , they 'll say two fingers you know , you ca n't feed us . This is one of the things I want you to se see today and this wonderful film I was gon na show today and I hope I 'll show next week , third time lucky , they actually interview the wives , the polygynous wives of of some erm erm guy in Africa , some African erm and they to them they actually ask the wives , why do you , you know why are you married to this man and they say well he feeds us , you know th that 's why we 're married to him , he gives us food and he 's apparently got five this particular man they interviewed , three of them were active and two of them were elderly , and the three active wives are quite open about the fact that this man 's a good provider and therefore they stay with him , but they , they would n't in the case of Australian Aborigines , they would n't stay if they did n't get fed and they only get fed because he 's a good hunter and to be a good hunter you need to go on good terms of men and that 's how it works .
Idiom: open someone's eyes (used idiomatically: yes)
I 'm no pervert , either , Virginia . I like my women willing and eager … ’ She blinked hard , then opened her eyes . ‘ My women’ , he 'd said . Plural .
Idiom: play the field (used idiomatically: yes)
But what he really wants is another relationship.’ Clare said , ‘ I do n't want another relationship until I 've struggled free of this one.’ ‘ Maybe you ought to play the field a bit,’ Gilda suggested . ‘ That 's what my solicitor 's afraid of,’ Clare said . ‘ He says it would ruin my case .