Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: make light of (used idiomatically: yes)
GREENPEACE members are being urged to write to chemicals manufacturer ICI , saying they will not buy Dulux paints until the group stops making chlorofluorocarbons , or CFCs . ICI has promised to stop CFC production by 1995 . Regional Railways : Sharing lines makes light of the future By LYNNE EDMUNDS REGIONAL RAILWAYS sees the spread of light rapid transit systems in our cities and suburbs as a development that can be harnessed to serve its interests — and not as a potential for poaching passengers .
Idiom: break new ground (used idiomatically: yes)
He taught himself to play the tuba . In 1953 he published The Maestro , the first of a series of six little books of cartoons on musical themes which had a worldwide success . He broke new ground in musical humour when in 1956 he organized the first of a series of concerts of symphonic caricature at which new music , some of it by respected composers like Malcolm Arnold , was played on ludicrous instruments or to the accompaniment of vacuum cleaners or road rammers . These concerts , which became more and more elaborate , proved highly popular with the public . In 1950 Hoffnung began a career as a broadcaster , during the course of which he made many appearances on the radio as both raconteur and panel member .
Idiom: second nature (used idiomatically: no)
Absolutely . I always knew I wanted to be a performer , and a performer gets to do whatever they want , so I started practising early . It became second nature.’ PEOPLE PUZZLE OVER WHAT to call Sandra Bernhard . They do n't quite get it .
Idiom: from scratch (used idiomatically: yes)
Windows bind for two main reasons . The first is a build - up of paint on the window and its frame , caused by years of redecoration . Her the answer is simple : strip off the paint from window and frame , back to bare wood , then repaint from scratch . You can use a hot air gun for this , or a chemical paint stripper , but both tend to strip off more paint than you might want . Often the quickest solution is to sand off the excess paint , using a foam sanding block with medium - grade wet - and - dry abrasive paper .
Idiom: new blood (used idiomatically: yes)
There remained only one major intellectual / cultural figure of international standing : Henri Barbusse . Given the party 's increasingly isolated situation , given its general lack of prestigious cultural figures , it is not surprising that by 1928 Barbusse had come to enjoy a particularly favoured position within the ranks of the PCF itself . In 1927–8 , however , the party was rejuvenated by an influx of new blood from a second generation of young intellectuals , on the one hand the Surrealists — Breton , Aragon , Eluard , Peret and Unik —and on the other , the Marxist " Philosophies " group comprising Politzer , Lefebvre , Nizan , Morhange and Guterman . In 1927 and 1928 , therefore , were planted the seeds of a cultural conflict between a first generation of intellectuals who had , like Barbusse , joined the party as a reaction to the sickening personal experiences of the First World War and who were above all else humanist and pacifist , and a younger second generation of Surrealists and Marxists who were more in tune with the sectarian Bolshevism advocated by Moscow . The history of the development of PCF cultural policy between 1927 and 1934 is consequently the history of a series of tactical skirmishes between these two factions , one humanist and pacifist , the other revolutionary and Bolshevik , between which the party leadership necessarily had to adjudicate .
Idiom: think twice (used idiomatically: yes)
Colombe was to lead the academic attack on Galileo between 1610 and 1614 . This was the period following Galileo 's move from Padua , where he had held the chair of mathematics since 1592 , to Florence where he had been appointed philosopher and mathematician to Cosimo II , grand duke of Tuscany . Had he suspected , when he left the Venetian state , that his Copernicanism might one day bring him into confrontation with papal authority , he might have thought twice before leaving a region in which dissident scholars could flourish and where printers , for commercial reasons , were already disobeying papal rules . But at that stage he may have valued the intellectual stimulus that a closer intercourse with Jesuit astronomers seemed to promise . It was not long , however , before he learned of a meeting at the house of Archbishop Alessandro Marzimedici , at which strategies for dealing with Copernicans were reviewed .
Idiom: get stuck in (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah you know van , lorries and stuff like that but , but the thing is if , if the traffic 's gon na be heavy , if it thinks we 're gon na get stuck in traffic , if you 've got a G T I you 're that type of driver you 've got that type of power , you can sort of pass and save a bit of time Yeah so maybe it 's , yeah , it 's a good idea though yeah
Idiom: grind to a halt (used idiomatically: yes)
PETER KANE /SIMON FERRARI /STEVE ATKINSON WASHED - OUT Britain was mopping up yesterday after one month 's rain fell overnight … yet we 're STILL in the middle of a drought . Homes were flooded and blacked out , rivers burst their banks , villages got cut off and rail services ground to a halt as fierce storms lashed the country . But last night Nina Miller of the National Rivers Authority said : ‘ We still need more rain . Most of this lot will just pour into the rivers and the sea .
Idiom: kick ass (used idiomatically: yes)
You could tell they were having a blast doing it , and without taking the piss.’ And Faster Pussycat tromping Carly Simon 's ‘ You 're So Vain’ ? ‘ Well , it kicks ass , as we say in the bang - your - head - circles . They do it hard , not with a smirk on the face . I do n't mind a sense of humour as long as you burn me offstage when you 're doing it.’
Idiom: on the same wavelength (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ It sounds a bit idealistic,’ remarked David , ‘ but I 'm with you one hundred per cent.’ She stared at him . Somehow she 'd been expecting resistance , something she had frequently encountered with Graham Rowell whenever she had attempted anything new , and it came as a shock to find that she and David Markham were on the same wavelength . Almost immediately they began working out the details of their new counselling service — or , as they preferred to call it , their chat - line — and how and where they could fit it into their already busy schedule . The other members of the medical team seemed equally enthusiastic , with even the night charge nurse , Alan Hill , joining in .
Idiom: in light of (used idiomatically: yes)
Personal sources provide a view of intangible aspects of the environment that may be filtered out by written media . .. perhaps the next step in future research can be to explore the detailed linkage between environment , scanning , and actual strategic adjustments . Gradually unravelling the sequence of activities associated with interpretation of the environment and strategic responses may provide a stronger normative basis for saying how firms can be designed to increase company performance in the light of strategic and environmental contingencies . [ Daft , Sormunen & Parks ( 1988 ) , pp 136–137 ) ] The kind of information that the general manager normally receives also affects his or her ability to conceive or to commit to new strategic ideas .
Idiom: on the ball (used idiomatically: yes)
SECURITY : Another £ 1 million for police without accounting for specialist anti - terrorist units . SOUVENIRS : These are likely to top up the EC jackpot , though it 's hard to guess a figure . But an on - the - ball whisky shop could make a killing with its special EC - label malt Scotch at £ 27.70 a bottle . PRESS CENTRE : Conversion at Meadowbank Sports Centre £ 1 million . Income from feeding around 2,000 journalists , £ 700,000 .
Idiom: chew the fat (used idiomatically: yes)
The Long and the Short of it was Selwyn 's misery was being caused because he could n't get anywhere near any of the other horses . So while he and Stapleton were led out for a little exercise , the Blue Cross carpenter , Alan Key got to work . He made a shortened door , while Selwyn chewed the fat with Stapleton . When he returned , Selwyn seemed altogether much more cheerful . Now he 's able to lean over his stable just like any other horse .
Idiom: walk of life (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah . basis of the mafia is n't it ? Ah , you see if if you do n't , I mean it 's not , it does n't happen in , in every walk of life but in big business and in politics if you do n't You have to modify your I 'll tell you , I 'll tell you how
Idiom: come a cropper (used idiomatically: yes)
I 'd like to know just what did happen when Hatton 's lorry was hi - jacked on the 15th of Marchand if they 've got any McCloys in their district.’ ‘ Stamford , sir ? Is n't there a bridge there where poor old Harold won a victory before coming a cropper at Hastings?’ ‘ Wrong one,’ said Wexford . ‘ This is a charming little ancient town of grey stone which the A1 now fortunately by - passes .
Idiom: economical with the truth (used idiomatically: no)
‘ Peace’ is now just another kind of hostility and no - one has offered us a word for what peace used to mean . A similar fate seems to have befallen ‘ liberal’ which in the US today is synonymous with ‘ left - wing’or even ‘ enemy’ . When the British civil servant Sir Robert Armstrong struggled in the Spycatcher trial to deny that he had lied by claiming that he had been ‘ economical with the truth’ he met with well - earned derision . There was an almost audible sigh of relief around the world that someone had been caught tampering with the dictionary . Most practitioners do it much more successfully .
Idiom: bear in mind (used idiomatically: yes)
We have already seen clear - cut reasons in the case of the associatives ( with the same reasons holding also for certain other types of adjective , such as former and sheer ) . There remains the well - known case of the " short Anglo - Saxon adjective " . We can have ( 52 ) but never ( 53):(52 ) Lewis left the bag in a dark corner his short answer irritated her ( 53 ) Lewis left the bag in a corner dark his answer short irritated her In suggesting the elements from which an answer can be constructed , we should bear in mind that here , as often in syntax , to assume a single explanatory factor risks oversimplifying matters . The major premise from which we start is that prenominal attribution and postnominal attribution involve , respectively , qualification and assignment . Now , clearly , in many circumstances where the property of an adjective matches a speaker 's perception , it may not need to be assigned — i.e. stated explicitly to be valid for the entity concerned — on the grounds that it is felt to be a characteristic sufficiently basic to the entity not to need assignment , as opposed to being called upon as an initial qualifying and identifying element .
Idiom: by and large (used idiomatically: yes)
A working - class girl leaving school in the second half of the nineteenth century , whether she was Scottish or English , would have much less choice of work than her brothers . Although modern research has pointed out that women 's paid employment is underestimated by the available records ( in particular the census ) , since it was more irregular and less likely to be recorded than that of men , women 's choice of work was certainly in practice severely restricted , first and most crucially by what was effectively segregation by sex , secondly by local opportunities . To imagine what a girl 's prospects actually were , we should bear in mind three by now well - established points about the employment of women in general : by and large women were doing different work from men of similar age and class ; women were concentrated in unskilled and low - paid jobs ; and a majority of women in paid work were young and unmarried . Since Edinburgh is the focus of this study , the context will be a Scottish one : there are many similarities between the profiles of women 's employment north and south of the border , but they are not identical . To begin with occupational segregation : in 1851 , over 90 per cent of all women registered as active in the labour force in Scotland were accounted for by four categories of employment : agriculture , domestic service , textiles and clothing .
Idiom: below par (used idiomatically: yes)
( ii ) INVESTMENT The investment record for the period is best placed within an international context . Once again , post - war performance was significantly above the level for the interwar years , but in international terms it was substantially below par . Interpretation of these data is far from straightforward , however . Whilst there is wide agreement that investment is a necessary condition of economic growth and that within fairly wide margins higher levels of performance require higher levels of investment , the direction of this relationship can not be conclusively demonstrated ; it may well be the case that the two occur together .
Idiom: hang by a thread (used idiomatically: yes)
GOING : Bungy-jumping Mirrorman Wigmore takes off from the cradle 200 ft up GOING : He spreads out his arms and legs , just as the photographer requested GONE : It 's a long way down for a reporter whose life is hanging by a thread STRAPPING LAD : Wigmore is tied up at work , wearing a harness HANGING AROUND : He gets the chance to put his feet up for a moment before the jump
Idiom: talk of the devil (used idiomatically: yes)
He held out the salver to Galvone who took the sheet , unfolded it , read the few words on the paper and handed it to Hauser . He dismissed the butler with a jerk of his head . ' Talk of the devil , ' he said . ' Newman is outside the gate , asking to see you . I 'll tell him to move his ass . '
Idiom: get on someone's nerves (used idiomatically: yes)
Ben started to laugh now . ‘ You know , you ca n't believe she 's the same child that was so polite a couple of years ago . She got on your nerves then , did n't she ? Remember when she used to stand there and madden you with her politeness and that voice of hers . She 's still got the voice but the politeness has slipped away a bit.’
Idiom: on the ropes (used idiomatically: yes)
' None of the individual specifications appears to embrace the whole of the mechanical conditions to be dealt with , but there were many good points contained in the specifications of Messrs. Glover and Messrs. Gwynne ; and it would appear that a combination of certain facets of these two schemes would produce a highly satisfactory machine . For instance , the hauling of drums proposed by Messrs. Glover are without doubt the best system and these can be applied to the original idea which has been adapted by Messrs Gwynne , viz : one free balance rope and two hauling ropes to each tank . Then , Messrs. Gwynne 's proposal for equalising the strain on each individual rope by means of connected hydraulic rams is most satisfactory , as also is their suggesting for actuating the lift - up gates by means of hydraulic pressure utilising the engine for pumping up the accumulator . ' It is evident from this that the contractors were responsible for many of the details and not a little of the basic design . In this letter Thomas suggested that the foundations and building work should be carried out by the Canal Company and estimated that the cost would be £ 12,000 .
Idiom: go public (used idiomatically: yes)
These firms are not just saving cash . They are trying , says Ira Kay , of the Hay Group of management consultants , to get their executives to think more like owners , and so pursue ‘ shareholder value’ . Many partnerships went public in the 1980s to secure capital , so the discipline that comes from handling one 's own money had been eroded . The recent surge in stockmarket volume and the hasty dusting - down of the houses ' new - issue departments threaten to bring quick profit back to the industry and delude its bosses that the good times are returning . Getting itself back into shape may yet again be pushed to one side .
Idiom: odds and ends (used idiomatically: yes)
Grainne did not mind about attracting attention , but it would be better not to . And again there was the quiver of amusement , because had Dierdriu ever been discreet when she went to a lover 's bed ? Dierdriu , thought her granddaughter , had probably gone noisily and wantonly along brightly lit corridors , brandishing torches , attended by half the Court , very likely conducting a few odds and ends of State business along the way . None of it would have done for the Grail Castle and the gentle remote creature to whose bed Grainne was going . The Castle was faintly lit by the soft light of the moon , and Grainne , pausing to look down over the courtyard through a small side window , saw how the countryside was bathed in radiance .
Idiom: off the shelf (used idiomatically: yes)
Probably not for the right reasons . A Resistance group should use enemy weapons , or stuff that can take enemy ammo — and the Company just did n't have enough Russian gear then , in the early Fifties . Now they could do you a boatload right off the shelf , nothing down and nothing to pay if you shoot 'em in the right direction.’ ‘ Would there have been any training in destabilisation?’ George had thought carefully about risking that word .
Idiom: up a tree (used idiomatically: no)
His school was the County High School at Dagenham and from there he had won a scholarship to Oxford . He came down with a First and started his civil service career in the humble surroundings of the National Assistance Board . His ability took him rapidly up the social security tree and to Number 10 as Jim Callaghan 's Principal Private Secretary . Downing Street is a sure stepping - stone to becoming head of a department but the price that has to be paid is as exacting a life - style as can be found in Whitehall . With the new Conservative Government in 1979 , Ken Stowe moved from Downing Street to become Permanent Secretary in the Northern Ireland Office — not exactly a rest cure — and in 1981 came back to the DHSS .
Idiom: state of the art (used idiomatically: yes)
Well , not a blend exactly . There are definite demarcation lines . Inside the top hotels all is First World ordered calm : state - of - the - art swimming pools , satellite television and chocolates on the pillow at night . The smell is Chanel and money . The sound is international muzak and ' would you care for ice with your martini , madame ? '
Idiom: know no bounds (used idiomatically: yes)
He was only missing from Palace line - ups from that time as a result of injury or illness , though his playing record demonstrates that he was prone to neither , and it was while we had Billy Callender in goal that Palace came closest to returning to Division 2 in 1928–29 , when we finished as runners - up to Charlton on goal average . Billy was awarded a Benefit on Wednesday 15 April 1931 against the Combined Universities , but a knock in the League match on the previous Saturday prevented him from playing — so he appeared as linesman instead ! That was typical of Billy Callender and his popularity at Selhurst Park knew no bounds . Sadly , the story of Billy Callender ended , not in triumph in an England eleven , but in tragedy . His beloved fiancée was stricken with polio and , over a two year period , her health steadily deteriorated .
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: no)
' Why ever not sì ? ' So the voluminous man held her wrists and lowered the girl 's body , small - breasted with protruding hip bones and long legs which , when stretched out together , still showed light between them , into the dark square where she stood with water up to her thighs . He handed down the cane and the bicycle lamp and she waded away into the shadows as the curious faces of the villagers , the anxious face of her father , peered down at her . Molly had buttoned up the braces on Jacqueline 's trousers and found her youngest child a biscuit when she heard the screams . They were high - pitched , terrified and rent the silence of the house .
Idiom: up in the air (used idiomatically: yes)
Do n't tell me,’ sneered Biff . ‘ I can guess.’ He spun it up in the air , caught it and deftly slid it into his shirt pocket . ‘ Well?’ He stared at her challengingly .
Idiom: crystal clear (used idiomatically: yes)
Bohor reedbuck abounded on these uplands , generally in groups of four to seven ; once I saw as many as eighty scattered over a hillside . Then , on 6 November , we descended the steep and difficult escarpment to the Daro river , where we found a pleasant camp site under some large fig trees . The river was fast - flowing , crystal - clear and swarming with catfish and barbel ; we had plenty of hooks and line and caught sixty in one day . We were here for six days before the camels arrived , but were reassured by hearing news of them from some of the many pilgrims who passed through our camp on their way to a famous shrine of Sheikh Husain ; all carried peeled , forked wands as an emblem of their pilgrimage . We left the Daro river next day and arrived at the Awash a fortnight later .
Idiom: child's play (used idiomatically: yes)
Let 's try the other way.’ This can be difficult initially for parents when they are not used to doing it , but after a little practice and getting over their embarrassment it starts to flow more easily . The commentary should not interrupt or structure the child 's play and the parent needs to resist the temptation to turn it into a teaching session . The parent can join in but playing in parallel alongside the child may help the parent not take over what the child is doing . If the child starts to be deliberately naughty , throwing toys or destroying the activity the parent should stop talking .
Idiom: breathe down someone's neck (used idiomatically: yes)
In reality , the situation was quite different . Despite the managerial roles specified by the company , B , C and D all described A as their ‘ real’ boss . C complained that B was ‘ far too close’ and ‘ breathing down my neck’ . D had the same complaint about C. B and C also admitted to finding it very difficult to manage their immediate subordinates , C and D respectively , who seemed to do better if treated as colleagues and left alone . In short , there appeared to be a cutoff at five years , such that those with responsibility time spans of less than five years felt they needed a manager with a responsibility time span of more than five years .
Idiom: in this day and age (used idiomatically: yes)
Erm the way I understand the situation is Tony 's happy with er his arrangement and that the clubs have agreed and I think it 's just a matter of them going back now to report back to their President the Italian people and then the way I see it he 'll he 'll go after the er game for a medical and you know there should n't be any problems there . Looks good business at Villa I mean he 's an exciting player but two million pounds that 's a huge fee . Well in this day and age you get your reserve team player normally . Erm I think what it is I think it 's a it 's a it 's a deal that 's should suit all parties . I mean Tony 's been at the club a long time he 's expressed a wish to go erm his style and his age is probably just right to go on the continent , he 's twenty six years of age and er I would guess that his particular style wou possibly would be better suited to continental play than it is in England .