Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: no holds barred (used idiomatically: yes)
THIS WEEK GENEVA SHOW No excuses needed Excellence at any price was the theme of the Geneva show , with the new Mercedes S - class and Bentley 's Continental R leading the field in a no - holds - barred battle to steal the spotlight . Report by Michael Harvey and Peter Robinson On the Mercedes - Benz stand all was quiet contemplation and sober judgements as the world 's automotive sages basked in a recyclable , CFC - free attempt at justifying a double - glazed , 408bhp V12 monolith weighing more than two tonnes , 17 ft long and called the new Mercedes S - class .
Idiom: get the picture (used idiomatically: yes)
Worst affected are Cornwall and Devon . Now scientists believe the gas could be linked to two and a half thousand cancer deaths per year . By placing radon gas detectors in homes the scientists are getting a clear picture of the problem around the country . In the south midlands , Northamptonshire has the worst problem . There , some areas are double the national average .
Idiom: keep a low profile (used idiomatically: yes)
Britain can never hope to compete with all this . Nevertheless , professionalism on American lines is still the ideal that academic administrators uphold , since it can indicate to sceptical politicians and the public at large that universities are engaged in the visible activity which generates ‘ performance - indicators’ . In this climate , the academic in English and other subjects in the humanities , who is busy , who publishes a lot , who goes to conferences , can not but be preferred to the quiet scholar , who keeps a low profile , even seems rather idle , but is taking his time over a major piece of scholarly writing that may involve many years ' work and which he does not intend to give to the world until he is ready . Such people have in the past been left to go their own way without interference . Nowadays they may be esteemed by their peers who know something of their work , but this esteem has little currency value in the committee - rooms where performance is appraised .
Idiom: twist the knife (used idiomatically: yes)
A compound doubt must be approached with special sensitivity . To the person with a simple doubt , a helpful discussion , a suggested book or a more detailed explanation may be enough to show him the way along which he can eagerly search for himself . But to the person with the compound doubt , an answer which would satisfy his surface doubt alone may put even more pressure on the deeper problem and twist the knife in his hidden wound . Providing an answer only for the surface doubt answers neither doubt in the long run . Second , of all the families of doubt this is probably the one best helped by reading .
Idiom: call it a day (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah . Two hours twenty minutes so we start at ten to back here at twenty past six , yeah ? So do the four role plays then all come back here at twenty past six for a debrief and then we 'll call it a day . Alright so if you go to your syndicate rooms now I will join you in due course . taking your stuff with you .
Idiom: keep your head (used idiomatically: no)
It 's terribly suspicious , Reinhard , you being up in Denmark when the old fox flies away . Even if you do claim you went up there to do him in ! I 'd keep your head down , nein?’ For the moment , there was very little that the President could say . The navigation for the second leg should have been extremely easy .
Idiom: below par (used idiomatically: yes)
I envisage a complete overhaul of the existing collection ( at present in the care of Miss R M Smith ) , and responsibility for the collection transferred to the Photographic section . 2 . That at this time all material clearly below par will be ‘ weeded out’ and replaced by new material when available . 3 . That all new slides be transferred to modern storage systems to facilitate easy retrieval .
Idiom: game on (used idiomatically: yes)
Erm thirty two K. It does do most things . But I said well he said , oh well you ca n't play games on it ! I said i I was n't thinking of that ! I mean , that 's what the kids have got , the Commodores .
Idiom: out of the box (used idiomatically: yes)
' I think that 's it ! ' Albert said . ' Mr Evans was in here and he took something out of the jewel box . Is that what you 're trying to say , Mister Johnny ? ' But Mister Johnny just laughed ; he was bored with this game .
Idiom: in the nick of time (used idiomatically: yes)
Mr Major scored a more convincing goal with Britain 's football clubs , cutting the Pool Betting Duty from 42.5 % to 40 % for five years . The savings — altogether £ 100 m over the period of the scheme — are to help pay for safety improvements at football grounds . In the nick of time : according to one recent report 80 out of 92 league clubs are technically insolvent . The chancellor made business contributions to Training and Enterprise Councils ( TECs ) tax - deductible . TECs are private - sector - led bodies that will be responsible for providing or co - ordinating training programmes in their area .
Idiom: by the same token (used idiomatically: yes)
This part of me is still quite strong , though of course I know there is no logical reason for race hatred . Whenever I see coloured people in Porteneil , buying souvenirs or stopping off for a snack , I hope that they will ask me something so that I can show how polite I am and prove that my reasoning is stronger than my more crass instincts , or training . By the same token , though , there was no need to take revenge on the rabbits . There never is , even in the big world . I think reprisals against people only distantly or circumstantially connected with those who have done others wrong are to make the people doing the avenging feel good .
Idiom: break someone's heart (used idiomatically: no)
Another friend said she would keep an eye on her , but four weeks later we had a phone call from her saying that Shamrock was desperately ill . The vet said that nothing could be done to save her and that she had to be put down . It broke my heart . She looked up at me with a ‘ Why did you go ? ’ look in her eyes . Why had n't Shamrock 's owners looked after her and loved her as we had done ?
Idiom: join the club (used idiomatically: yes)
Lemmings Bungee Club , a commercial venture which organises charity jumps , will be setting up a 150 ft crane at Kings nightclub , Copford , on May 16 ready for anyone daring enough to throw themselves off . Participants are invited to collect sponsorship for the National Fire Service Benevolent Fund . The £ 15 fee to join the club and the £ 22.50 cost of each jump will have to be paid from the money they raise . Mark Turnball , one of the business partners behind Lemmings , said the firm had been running for two years , organising events in many parts of the country . Potential jumpers pay their fees on the day , but Mr Turnball would like to hear in advance from anyone who wants to take part .
Idiom: like the clappers (used idiomatically: yes)
Some 30 miles from Berlin he comtemplated hitch - hiking , but rejected it , trudging along and coming upon allotments with apple trees . Risking everything he grabbed two tomatoes and the biggest apples before bedding down for another night under cover of trees . Next day , footsore , he saw a bicycle beside a house and , with nobody in sight , he quickly mounted it and rode ‘ like the clappers’ , feeling that every time a car passed him , it might be the police . After two or three hours , Harry say a sign indicating that Hamburg was 300 kilometres away , and he took this road as he knew Lubeck might be an alternative if no vessels for Sweden were berthed in the larger port . That night he was woken by planes and saw flares over Berlin , bringing a moment of ‘ homesickness’ that he was n't up there too .
Idiom: jump on the bandwagon (used idiomatically: yes)
it was a similar story when Haslam moved to become deputy chairman of ICI Fibres in 1969 with the intention that he would soon take over as chairman . Fibres had been one of ICI 's big money spinners , but by the time Haslam joined the division nylon was already making a loss and polyester was about to collapse , having been a ‘ jewel in the crown’ . As the patents had run out on many ICI fibre Products , so competitors had jumped on the bandwagon and started building plants at a frenzied pace . The inevitable result was over - capacity in the market place followed by a vicious price war . It was a foregone conclusion that Haslam would for the second time in his career find himself ‘ pitch - forked’ into a retrenchment programme .
Idiom: kill two birds with one stone (used idiomatically: yes)
That would have to stop . A cynical smile crossed his face , hidden behind the lip of the beer glass . Kill two birds with one stone , Dominic lad . Anthea , out . Meryl , in — for a short while , at least .
Idiom: to the bone (used idiomatically: yes)
Vitamin tablets are also available . 2 Vitamin D assists in transporting calcium to the bones , and a deficiency can cause both muscle weakness and bone disorders . One effect of vitamin D deficiency is a loss of bone density and strength . Again , such disorders can be mistaken for normal ageing , but can be readily rectified by eating liver , eggs and ‘ fatty’ fish , although perhaps the best source is exposure to normal sunlight .
Idiom: for the time being (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ I do,’ said Joe , busy with the wet flannel . ‘ Here , mind yourself,’ said Dolly , ‘ you 're not me keeper , y'know.’ ‘ You 're confined to barracks for the time being , Private Nobody.’ ‘ I 'll hit you if you keep callin ' me that daft name,’ said Dolly . ‘ And d'you mind not playin ' about with me petticoat ?
Idiom: child's play (used idiomatically: yes)
Moreover , due to their large diameter wheel , they have a low rolling resistance on poor tracks and , importantly , it is the wheel , and not the person pushing , which carries the weight , since the load is balanced in a pair of lockers , one on each side , and distributed both in front of and behind the axle . It takes no effort to lift the shafts . Pushing the wheelbarrow should have been child 's play , but I still could not get the hang of it . There had been a delay in building it , so that I had only managed a few hours ' practice in the streets of Salford . As I set out on that Christmas afternoon , I planned to learn as I went along .
Idiom: in the driving seat (used idiomatically: yes)
We did our homework on the player and knew he could score goals . ‘ We have him for the last five games of the League run - in . We are still in the driving seat in the League and if we win those games , we win the title.’ Larne boss Gary Erwin had threatened to quit after a midweek Irish Cup exit to Cliftonville . But last night he vowed to soldier on , saying : ‘ I was encouraged by telephone messages of support from other managers , including my predecessor Paul Malone.’
Idiom: in stitches (used idiomatically: yes)
As to placing cable patterns , there is no need to have them all over the garment , unless it is a classic sports sweater . As well as the sampler sweater mentioned earlier , you can add cables to the bodice of a garment and work the remaining yoke and sleeves in a simple small tuck pattern . If you have the body of a sweater in cable strips you might leave the sleeves in stocking stitch . To be really inventive you could knit the bodice to the yoke in cable and stocking stitch strips but have the sleeves and yoke all in one from cuff to cuff in the same pattern , so that the cables run across the yoke sideways . All you need is a scale diagram and a tension sample .
Idiom: over the hill (used idiomatically: yes)
Everyone gets ill from time to time . 39 . You 're over the hill once you 're 20/30/40/50/60/70 . 40 . If only … .
Idiom: bear fruit (used idiomatically: yes)
Employees ca n't be forced to join a Union against their will . Unions are no longer above the law if they are damaging tactics such as'blacking ' or ' secondary picketing ' . These policies bore real fruit . And , by rooting out abuses , they actually helped the interests of ordinary Trade Unionists . Industry was able to move forward , instead of being pulled in opposite directions at once .
Idiom: on the house (used idiomatically: yes)
It takes an awful long time for you to regain that and to feel safe in your own homes . Mm . So , if you do nothing else today , I 'd like you to go home and assess the risk areas on your own individual houses . And have you actually ? If you have n't , then , you ought to phone your local beat officer and get him to come along and give you a survey
Idiom: below par (used idiomatically: yes)
The operative life of a callable bond is the bond 's expected life . This depends on both the current price of the bond and the call schedule . If the bond is currently trading below par , its operative life is likely to be the number of years to maturity . If the current price is above par , the operative life of the bond will depend on the date on which the call price falls below the current price . For example , if the current price is 103 , the bond is not likely to be called until three years before maturity .
Idiom: behind bars (used idiomatically: yes)
Her jaw ached with smiling her appreciation . What fun they 'd had , he concluded . ‘ Where is he now?’ she asked , thinking he was possibly behind bars . ‘ I lost touch with him when he joined the Air Force . I 'm not entirely convinced he survived .
Idiom: lay down the law (used idiomatically: yes)
It is ironical , perhaps , that one of the principal exponents of the legitimate business purpose doctrine was the late Lord Diplock . I say ‘ ironical’ because it was Lord Diplock who , in his address to the Holdsworth Society in 1965 , observed : ‘ You may suspect that judges share the common human failing of wanting to tell other people what they ought to do to lay down the law . But in the fiscal field at least my conscience is clear . Except in its application to me personally , about which there is unfortunately no room for dispute , I am not interested in reforming tax law .
Idiom: out of the blue (used idiomatically: yes)
Shortly afterwards Sunday paper headlines screamed ‘ My School Days as Stone 's Child Bride’ . ‘ That night was like a nightmare,’ he recalled . ‘ Then I got a phone call out of the blue from Mandy the next morning . She was quite flippant and said ‘ Have you seen the papers?’ . ‘ I do n't think she realised the seriousness of it .
Idiom: night and day (used idiomatically: no)
Joshua took refuge within the bookshop . Two girls , who both turned out to be called Fiona , were still unpacking the stock . The flavour of the booth was political : memoirs by forgotten Cabinet Ministers , Night and Day by Nicholas Ridley , The Hand on the Tiller by Sir Norman Fowler and Leading Man by Cecil Parkinson , stood shoulder to shoulder with a company of Archers . What Every Woman Wants by Edwina Currie stood cheek by jowl with a thriller by Douglas Hurd . There were stacks of unreadable pamphlets produced by the Party 's Young Turks , and a remaindered copy of a Michael Heseltine .
Idiom: call the shots (used idiomatically: yes)
I had finally worked out why Dennis was so keen on me . Although a barrow boy at heart , he had a yen for the finer things in life . The condition was that the transaction be conducted in whorehouse terms : he paid the trick , he called the shots . There was nothing very remarkable about him in this respect . You only have to walk into any art gallery these days to see that the real action is in the shop .
Idiom: have a few (used idiomatically: no)
She feels things have changed in the town centre over the years . ‘ You do n't get characters like there used to be.’ She said she had a few hair - raising experiences , mainly from people who have had too much to drink . But the interesting people she meets more than makes up for the bad ones . She said : ‘ I 'll always find loads of material on High Row.’
Idiom: spot on (used idiomatically: yes)
tendering them . And Jim 's point about you know gettin using this as an opportunity to er s Er spot on . t to get it , is just right because i i in twelve months time we might have to tender for every job . And it does n't matter whether we give him bad vibes .
Idiom: miss the boat (used idiomatically: no)
They are the ones to beat . The threesome dominates every sector of the 4 × 4 market except the low - cost fun machines . Having , with spectacular lack of vision , left the door open to the Japanese in the early BMC - British Leyland doldrum management days , Land Rover 's lethargic parent suddenly realised it had missed the boat in a rapidly expanding market sector , and did something about it . They moved the Range Rover up market , consolidated the traditional Land Rover and introduced the spectacular Discovery to scoop the honours and sales in the popular middle ground . Over the years Solihull has perfected the art of stepping - stone marketing — improving models just when the opposition thought it had caught up .
Idiom: ten a penny (used idiomatically: yes)
Upon her return she told her father as much . Colonel Fergusson nodded indulgently at such pertness and obstinacy , but held his peace . On the 5th of March , however , he jauntily indicated to his favourite daughter a fresh advertisement in Saunder 's New 's - Letter announcing that Mr Bullock had reduced — had clearly been obliged to reduce , the Colonel interpreted — the price of admission into his immobile spectacle to a mere ten pence . At the end of that month Colonel Fergusson imparted the news that the Frenchy picture at the Rotunda had closed for lack of spectators , whereas Messrs Marshall 's Peristrephic Panorama was still being shown three times a day to audiences rendered perfectly comfortable by patent stoves . ' It is the way forward , ' the Colonel repeated in June of that year , after attending by himself the farewell performance at the Pavilion .
Idiom: round the bend (used idiomatically: yes)
Then someone gave a victory whoop and a voice shouted excitedly , ‘ Didya see th 'size o’ them bastards ? The fuckers were comin ' straight for us , too.’ Rocky , busy waving his charges on board , glanced over his shoulder in time to see a small group of dark shapes disappearing at a fast lope round the bend of the curving driveway . Four others were scattered motionless on the green turf some thirty yards away . Satisfied his companions had things well in hand , he turned back to his task of shepherding his quota of stumbling , coughing , bemused refugees into the shelter of the huge container truck .
Idiom: for the time being (used idiomatically: yes)
Yet this was the decision . As part of a complex programme of development the Foxton scheme only makes sense if other parts of the programme were being tackled ; few of them were started . There must have been , for the time being at least , compelling reasons for embarking on the Foxton development . Perhaps the critical factor in the end was the water problem . The Royal Commission evidence provides a little support for this view .
Idiom: take it easy (used idiomatically: yes)
RACEHORSE Desert Orchid was due to return home today after a miracle recovery from major surgery . Vets who cut out 10 ft of his gut to cure colic on November 25 gave him a less than even chance of survival . Dessie will still have to take it easy when he returns to his stable in Melton Mowbray , Leics . Tragedy after knee surgery A FATHER of three died from a blood clot eight days after knee replacement surgery to relieve arthritis in his leg .
Idiom: jump to conclusions (used idiomatically: yes)
Would you let someone take your kids away ? Or is it all right for you to keep your own kids , but the likes of us , ordinary people , who 've got to give up — ' ' Madam , I wish you would listen instead of jumping to ridiculous conclusions ! ' George shouted above her voice . ' I have not for a moment suggested that children should be removed from the care of their parents .
Idiom: come up trumps (used idiomatically: yes)
Your flexible drinking partner … the plastic revolution hits the pub . And a dream come true … The advert for grandparents that came up trumps . Welcome back : Next year the Gloucestershire Regiment celebrates its three hundredth birthday . The anniversary falls just before the regiment is due to amalgamate with the Duke of Edinburgh 's Royal Regiment as part of the defence cuts .
Idiom: lose your marbles (used idiomatically: yes)
Then he picked up a long poker from the fireplace and had it like a rifle when he played the tape again . At each shot he jerked the ' rifle ' up as the recoil would kick it then re - aimed as fast as he could . ' So you 've finally lost your last marble ' a voice said from the far end of the room . It was the duty officer prowling with a cup of tea in his hand . Shamefaced Maxim twirled the poker casually .
Idiom: run a mile (used idiomatically: yes)
Boulton happened to meet him at Exeter however , and as it did not coincide with the ideas of the firm to lose the services of their best engineer in this fashion , Murdock was persuaded to return . Writing to his partner , Boulton said : ‘ He hath unpacked his carriage and made it run a mile or two up and down in River 's great room , making it carry the fire shovel , tongs and poker . I think it fortunate that I met him as I am persuaded I can cure him of his disorder or turn the evil to good’ . From this letter it is clear that Boulton had no great opinion of steam - carriages and their possibilities , and the result was that Murdock 's idea was left undeveloped .
Idiom: in light of (used idiomatically: yes)
If the door has good locks on it , he will not be able to open the door without keys . Do you have a flimsy , glass - panelled back door ? How vulnerable is your property in the light of these points ? Make your windows as difficult to break in to as possible . The opportunist housebreaker will not shirk from breaking a window , of course , but the more levels of protection you create , the more time it will take him — which is a risk he may not wish to take .
Idiom: stop at nothing (used idiomatically: yes)
The Falangists had made a number of attempts to rescue Primo de Rivera from prison , all of which had failed . In fact , unbeknown to them , Franco had played a crucial role in the failure of what turned out to be the last of these , in September 1936 , shortly before his elevation to the position of Head of State . Clearly , Franco would stop at nothing to retain his hegemonic position . Some two months later , on 20 November 1936 , Primo de Rivera was executed in Alicante prison , leaving the Falange under the disputed leadership of the malleable Hedilla . As with Calvo Sotelo and Sanjurjo , the intervention of " fate " had removed another of Franco 's possible rivals .
Idiom: on the horn (used idiomatically: yes)
Not that they had anything against cats as cats , but witches were believed to take the form of cats , so it was all quite reasonable , really . ' Zelah seemed to know everybody and the Wycliffes were introduced to a bewildering variety of people whom they never expected to see again . An eerie blast on a horn signalled the start of the ceremony and the crowd became silent . The master of ceremonies , in a white , druidical robe , mounted the platform by the launching ramp and stood , peering inland along another path , marked off by ropes which disappeared into the darkness . After a while a flickering light appeared in the distance and drew steadily nearer ; a torch - bearer came into view , a girl , wearing a long white gown which left her arms bare ; she carried aloft a burning torch which gave off a great deal of tarry smoke .