Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: break new ground (used idiomatically: yes)
The king 's appearance in the Mâcunnais revived ancient memories of Louis IV 's visit in 950 , which his successor exploited effectively , stressing the justice of his cause and the royal obligation to suppress evil . Having subdued the count , Louis toured the castles , to remind castellans of the long - forgotten doctrine that fortifications were the monopoly of public authorities . But while reasserting the old , he also broke new ground in the claim that he was rightful lord over all men in the area who had hitherto had no lord . And for good measure , he entered into an important pariage agreement with Cluny and the bishop and chapter of Mâcon , that resulted in the creation of a royal enclave within the county . From this nucleus , royal territory was in the future to expand to the point at which , in 1239 , the whole county could be annexed to the royal demesne .
Idiom: jump on the bandwagon (used idiomatically: yes)
One has just to look at recent results from a number of the Banks to get an idea of the vast profits being made . One can certainly understand a company in dire financial straits seeking cost cutting , but it is very hard to explain why the Banks should be embarking on this trend now . One of the reasons being put forward is that they are jumping on a bandwagon which unfortunately is worldwide . The argument for the Banks employing new staff is indeed great . They are great upholders of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress , part of which puts an onus on employers to create jobs .
Idiom: on the back of (used idiomatically: yes)
I 've often wondered what the odds were against breaking that same pane twice in succession . The garden was about 14 feet by 50 feet in area and , as Dad was a keen gardener , became a lovely show of flowers each summer . He had built a lean - to greenhouse on the back of the scullery and prided himself on his chrysanthemums and gladioli . Loganberries and raspberries grew on wires at both sides of the garden which had a centre bed with paths around it and beds running next to the fences . At the end of the garden were the two chicken houses , a run for daytime and to the right the sleeping quarters with a tiny window about a foot square .
Idiom: break even (used idiomatically: yes)
( a ) The amount of trousers Cords sell each month . Using the break even equation , where x is the number of pairs of trousers to earn a profit of £ 11,040 each month : ( b ) Fixed costs have now increased to ( £ 26,400 + £ 3,000 ) £ 29,400 .
Idiom: take the piss (used idiomatically: yes)
Were they not as bright as we had supposed ? Were they complete idiots ? Or were they , perhaps , a nation of satirists ? perhaps they had come all those billions of miles for the purpose of taking the piss out of us . As I waited , Pike started to fall , jumping clear of the stilts that had been holding him up . The bucket , miraculously , remained on his head .
Idiom: up for grabs (used idiomatically: yes)
In fact , even as he spoke , the forces for change were there and rallying : the critique of the established constitutional authorities was eating into things below the froth of party politics ; the Liberal - SDP Alliance considered that the " key to … change lies in electoral and constitutional reform " ; and Tony Benn , generally recognised as leader of the radical left in the Labour Party , was telling large and enthusiastic audiences up and down the country that " constitutional questions are the key to power in a parliamentary democracy " and that " socialists need to give at least as much attention to the institutions of the state as to the power structure of the economy " . Of course , the Conservatives won again in 1983 , but the fact that they secured two - thirds of the seats in the Commons with less than half of the popular vote encouraged the centre parties to cry still louder for electoral reform at the same time as the Left were forced to ponder on the fact that had there been proportional representation then the Conservatives would not have been able to form a government without the moderating support of another party in the coalition . So , the play of party politics at the ballot box may give us interludes of constitutional peace , but we can not escape the fact that the British constitution is still up for grabs , in politics , and on the agenda for change . We are in a period of decisive constitutional significance . The writing may be on the wall for the established system .
Idiom: between a rock and a hard place (used idiomatically: yes)
Rory shook her head , sending her long wheat - coloured curls tumbling about her face . ‘ Do n't be ridiculous,’ she said adamantly , then bit her lip . She was caught between a rock and a hard place here , she realised with grim humour . Since Adam had been monopolising practically all her time , she could n't protest her dislike of him too vehemently . Candy would pounce on that like a terrier , demanding to know why she did n't just tell him to get lost .
Idiom: know no bounds (used idiomatically: yes)
It was how he would have expected Frankie to react . Frankie Albright was nineteen and just young enough to have missed the war ; he had tried to sign up when he was sixteen , only to be informed upon by his mother , who had followed him down to the recruiting office . Frankie 's wrath knew no bounds and after sub - jecting his weeping mother to a tirade of the most vile obscenities he was thrown out of the office by a disgusted recruiting sergeant . Frankie had left home and was now living in lodgings in a little backstreet near the pub they were sitting in . Frankie followed the boxing scene with much interest and it was through boxing that Billy had become involved with the volatile character in the first place .
Idiom: serve someone right (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Not enough to keep every writing hack in town,’ I said bitterly . ‘ Tut , tut . It would serve you right if I did n't tell my piece de resistance.’ ‘ I know , you 're going to buy some smokes of your own.’ He beamed and flicked ash into an empty ketchup bottle .
Idiom: on the nose (used idiomatically: yes)
' Take care , Stephen , safe flight . ' Her upturned face was close to his . He could see the fine sprinkling of golden freckles on her nose and cheekbones . ' You could have come with me , you know , ' he reminded her . ' I know that , but when we go away I do n't want it to be for business — I want to have you all to myself . '
Idiom: run the gauntlet (used idiomatically: yes)
' The officer escorted kindly obliged , escorting me to the dressing room door . ' I could have been anyone . ' If Lord 's has any thoughts for the anxiety felt by the families at the thought of England 's players running a gauntlet of violence for 11 weeks the tour should be called of . The TCCB might even be able to turn the political situation to its advantage . In February , England will be pitted against the Indians , Pakistan and Sri Lanka and their equally volatile neighbours from Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the bidding for the right to stage the 1995 World Cup .
Idiom: wide of the mark (used idiomatically: yes)
Some state schools have followed the example of the independent schools in asking parents to give covenanted sums . Judd states : So protests about the Government 's proposals to charge parents for extras ' such as swimming lessons and cooking materials fall wide of the mark . Money donated by parents is already paying not only for extras and luxuries but also for such basic tools of education as books , art materials and computers . One of the problems arising from reliance on parental contributions is that it produces wide disparities between the resources available to schools with different catchment areas .
Idiom: on board (used idiomatically: yes)
Cos that 's during the First World War , you see , and erm , he did and so he said goodbye to us all and he said I 'm going up now to say goodbye to your mother and he ran up the street here to say goodbye to my mother . She made some tea , she told me afterwards and stayed and stayed and stayed and he lived at Prindon and his mother was very very deaf and my mother got worried because he was going away the next day and she said to him , Len do n't you think you ought to spend the evening with your mother and he said , yes , I 'll go now and he ran off and he ran back again and he said , you do n't mind if I write to Ivy do you ? She said , no you write and he 'll , she 'll write back , you see but , and he went out to France and he was killed in three months and and his name , so they told me was on the er , on the board at er . Do you know I often wonder what happened to the honour board at Needham Market . Oh , I see .
Idiom: to say the least (used idiomatically: yes)
The way we farm . The nature of erm , subsidies from Europe and all others , other factors . I think this argument 's about the benefit of the countryside is somewhat debatable to say the least And these arguments that are put about why we should n't ban fox hunts because of all the benefits and the tradition are exactly the same arguments that were put about otters and about badgers and about other sports that we have , that we no longer consider satisfactory and have opposed . From my point of view , one of the most powerful arguments that needs to be addressed is the argument about individual freedom and this is always important to me about , if you 're going to take an action that limits somebody 's freedom , you damn well have to have a good reason for it . There is no legislation to ban fox hunting yet .
Idiom: larger than life (used idiomatically: yes)
Olivier had in fact been making casual suggestions to Douglas as to how his role could be improved and Douglas , in awe of Olivier , allowed the knighted actor to write his own lines . When Laughton caught on to what was going on , he became paranoid and refused to work . It was Peter Ustinov , who shared a number of key scenes with Laughton , who persuaded Douglas to allow him and Laughton to rewrite their own scenes , thus placating the larger - than - life Laughton . This certainly was a film of collaboration and conflict . Second Unit Director Yakima Cannutt , the famed stunt man who had directed the chariot race in Ben - Hur and the battle scenes in epics like Ivanhoe and El Cid , staged sections of the enormous battle between the slave army and Roman legions towards the end of Spartacus His job was specifically to capture shots of the main actors , such as Tony Curtis and John Ireland , in battle .
Idiom: off the shelf (used idiomatically: yes)
And Gateway is giving away a 250 g box of After Eight Mints with every bottle of Martell Cognac ( £ 16.49 ) . AT Sainsbury 's , English matured cheddar is reduced from £ 2.25 to £ 1.99 a lb , a dozen eggs from £ 1.20 to 99p , a large pot of French set yoghurt from 93p to 75p , 500 g of Sunflower margarine from 63p to 49p and a raspberry trifle from 42p to 36p . Off the shelf THREE new meals have been added to the Findus Lean Cuisine range — country cottage pie , lasagne verdi and barbecue chicken . The 14 oz servings cost about £ 2.29 .
Idiom: come unstuck (used idiomatically: yes)
Baker - Finch had slipped off the leaderboard , and Watson looked to be in big trouble with his drive at the 12th . Tom never should have taken a driver because there 's a lot of trouble near the hole ( 316 yards , par-4 ) . I think he 'd tried to make a certain birdie but he 'd really come unstuck . He 'd hit into the heavy gorse and I honestly thought he was going to take a seven . Somehow he managed only a bogey - five , and he got the shot back straight away at the 13th .
Idiom: bear in mind (used idiomatically: yes)
Antibodies and antitoxins circulating in the pregnant woman 's blood are passed via the placenta to the fetus . This inherited , natural , passive ( the baby has not produced it ) immunity to , for example , measles and whooping cough usually lasts only for a few months after birth . Thereafter , the baby is vulnerable to such infections and this is borne in mind when organising immunisation programmes for the child . Natural active immunity . This type of immunity can be naturally acquired in two ways both of which involve the production of antibodies :
Idiom: call it a day (used idiomatically: yes)
The first dividend was £ 2–12s ( £ 2.60 ) . Worse followed when 10,000 coupons were handed out at a big match at Hull — but 9,999 vanished . By the end of the season , Moores ' partners called it a day . John 's brother Cecil — father of the present Liverpool chairman — joined him to lend support and proved to be a brilliant organiser . They worked day and night and the whole family became involved .
Idiom: with a view to (used idiomatically: yes)
Yet Rider Haggard seems to have been dissatisfied with his presentation of the character ( and naturally he must have been influenced , as a professional novelist , by the enormous popularity and sales of She ) and he did not resist the temptation to give his readers a further insight into her . In an Author 's Note to the second book about this strange being , Ayesha , he wrote : Not with a view to conciliating those readers who on principle object to sequels , but as a matter of fact , the Author wishes to say that he does not so regard this book . Rather does he venture to ask that it should be considered as the conclusion of an imaginative tragedy ( if he may so call it ) whereof one half has been already published . The unearthly , mysterious aspect of beauty is emphasised at the end of a book which is in many ways a repetition of its predecessor .
Idiom: odd one out (used idiomatically: yes)
I was always the buffer between the two , I used to say I agree with you dear , I do n't want her to wear nylons , that 's not the point , all her friends are wearing nylons and she 's not going to be the that 's right , do you want odd one out . up on her own ? She 's not going to feel the odd one out .
Idiom: play games (used idiomatically: yes)
' You 'd better get them insured . ' Oliver laughed appreciatively . He was at an age when he could be both inside himself and outside himself at the same time : he knew he was only playing a game , but the game still remained real to him . So though he laughed at Mr Hellyer 's joke he was able to say , with perfect seriousness , ' It 's all right . No one 'll steal them .
Idiom: round the clock (used idiomatically: yes)
STEPHEN DORRELL MP / Junior Health Minister Voice over Mary Butler , seen here before suffering a stroke , needs round the clock nursing care . Her life depends on medical equipment to get food to her stomach . She was told she 'd have to pay a £ 116 a week for it because she 's in a private nursing home .
Idiom: round the bend (used idiomatically: yes)
She was not , she told Mrs Arbuthnot , prepared to work for the likes of her . They drove through the gates and up the avenue of ancient lime trees . It was a bright autumn day in 1938 and as they rounded the bend and came in sight of the river , Philip took her hand and said , ' Look , darling , is n't that wonderful ? Just look at the leaf colour all along the bank there … ' She saw the excitement in his face and smiled to please him .
Idiom: the die is cast (used idiomatically: yes)
The unification of parties had served its immediate purpose of cutting short independent political initiatives in the Nationalist rearguard . Once this had been achieved and the victory in the north assured , nothing mattered to Franco so much as the final victory . This was , in fact , still many months of fighting away , but with the loss of the northern territories , the die was all but cast for the Second Republic . In part , this was due to the military superiority of the Nationalists in both matériel and organization , assisted as they were by massive support from Germany and Italy . This in itself gave them also the advantage of a better fighting morale than the Republicans , whose desperate defensive efforts were unable to stop the implacable advance of their adversaries .
Idiom: behind the scenes (used idiomatically: yes)
Waiting on the pier to greet the Queen were P&O Managing Director , Sir Bruce MacPhail and the President of the Royal Society of British Sculptors , Philomena Davidson Davis . They then escorted the Queen around the 18 acre estate , which was developed by P&O and is now managed by the P&O Properties company , Chelsea Harbour Ltd. As well as admiring a variety of modern and more traditional pieces , the Queen met many of the sculptors and was also introduced to some of the people who had worked behind the scenes to make it all happen . P&O Distribution and P&O Containers were instrumental in bringing many of the pieces to Chelsea Harbour from around the UK and beyond . Amongst the challenges faced by P&O Distribution was the task of moving two giant bronze hands , weighing in at around five tonnes and valued at £ 50,000 safely through the heart of London to their resting place at one of the entrances to Chelsea Harbour .
Idiom: miss the boat (used idiomatically: yes)
Sun Microsystems Inc has denied that it has plans to develop a Sparc port of Microsoft Corp 's NT operating system , as reported last week in the US paper Open Systems Today . The paper quoted Sun president Scott McNealy as saying ‘ NT needs to be ported to Sparc . If they [ Microsoft]don't do it , they are missing the boat’ . Despite the denials , observers hint darkly that some sort of effort involving Sparc and Microsoft is underway , and will come to the surface over the next few months . X / Open Co Ltd has picked one of DEC 's key transaction processing technologies as part of its standard for distributed transaction processing .
Idiom: high and low (used idiomatically: yes)
From what you know or have heard about each one , can you say whether you are generally satisfied or not satisfied with the service that each one provides ? Preliminary analysis of these questions suggested that dissatisfaction with six of the organizations was importantly related to preparedness to break the law : the press , local government , the civil service , banks , the police and the local doctor . A scale was formed by simply scoring the number of times the respondent said that he or she was satisfied ; the resulting scale started with a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 6 , but it was dichotomized at the median value into a scale of political alienation with two values ( high and low ) . Figure 13.9 shows the cross - tabulation of preparedness to break the law by alienation by experience of unemployment . Those who are alienated from the institutions of authority and the state are certainly more prepared to break the law than those who are not ; among those who have been unemployed , the effect is + 0.140 , and among those who have not it is + 0.171 , an average effect of + 0.155 .
Idiom: below the belt (used idiomatically: yes)
Nor did I when I thought about it . But there you are , Mr. K. that 's life . Hits us below the belt as often as not . Would you like to meet my sister?’ The question , coming as it did unexpectedly at the end of her monologue , disconcerted me .
Idiom: to the letter (used idiomatically: yes)
It was not that I eventually doubted that the Almighty responded to faith , but that because I had been so bound up by the desert , so full of self - interest , so neglectful of the God I was supposed to serve , that I could not have expected any co - operation from him . Within a few days we had become bystanders , watching things happen beyond our control . My Member of Parliament , Harold Lever , in response to an earlier letter of mine , wrote to the Algerian ambassador in London and got approval for me to cross the Algerian Sahara on foot . This was despite the fact that I had already visited the Algerian Embassy to no effect after writing thirteen times . British Airways then flew me free of charge to Paris , where the Niger authorities gave me permission to cross their territory .
Idiom: take someone to task (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Lou , you have n't told them?’ ‘ We agreed to be honest with the children , I seem to recall.’ I could have taken him to task about how he was defining ‘ agree’ and ‘ honest’ , but just somehow did n't . ‘ The Holiday Inn is far from being a cheap hotel,’ was all I could think of to say . ‘ On the contrary , it 's rather expensive .
Idiom: up a tree (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Is it because she 's from a rich family and my brother 's only a mechanic?’ Guido did not answer her . Instead , he did another trick with the steering - wheel , making her lurch forward again as they turned off the road , between a pair of high wrought - iron gates , and headed up a tree - lined gravel driveway towards a fabulous , sprawling , red - roofed villa . Ronni 's jaw dropped open . Was this where Guido Falcone lived ?
Idiom: in the swim (used idiomatically: yes)
Very often it is this rod that gets a bite . My first rod is used to cast to within a yard or two of a predetermined spot ; a spot which I know from past experience is a productive one . In every bream swim there is one very small area which will produce more bream than all the rest of the swim put together . If you take special care to note landmarks on the far bank , use a swim marker to aid judgment , and make sure you have noted the exact spot , every time you cast you will soon have this area firmly implanted in your mind . Of course , you vary the cast at first , until you discover the hotspot , but if you have not noted each cast fairly precisely you will not know where the fish came from when you do catch one .
Idiom: pick holes (used idiomatically: no)
We 're not going to pick holes in each ~ other 's coats , I suppose ? "
Idiom: out of line (used idiomatically: yes)
Over the years , four more films and a television series were to follow : the heroes found some difficulty in impersonating Raffles the cricketer , the arts of slow bowling being in short supply among leading actors . In spite of his asthma and short - sightedness , Hornung was a competent club cricketer , a game for which he had a passion ; he was proud of his membership of the MCC , to which he was elected in 1907 . During World War I , he served in an anti - aircraft unit and then , in 1916 , was sent to France by the YMCA to organize rest - houses and libraries for troops out of the front line . He was greatly saddened by the death of his only son in action at Ypres , and in 1917 he published two poems in The Times , ' Bond and Free ' and ' Wooden Crosses ' , which aroused wide interest . He was in Arras when the last great German offensive began in March 1918 , and he wrote a vivid description of the bombardment of the town in his last book , Notes of a Camp Follower on the Western Front , published in 1919 .
Idiom: for Africa (used idiomatically: yes)
The emphasis of the New Testament is that Christ resisted the temptations thrown at him and it was this that qualified him for dying on the cross . Sharing spirit In your desperate struggle to dig up hope for Africa in the 1990s ( NI 208 ) you gave naive solutions . Of course the continent needs greater democracy . But you ignore the power struggles between ethnic groups — and the widespread practice of nepotism — which have soured democracy in the past .
Idiom: small print (used idiomatically: yes)
A ‘ final inspection’ would probably have detected the error , which was blamed on ‘ inadequate care , poor trade practices , failure to adhere to company standards and use of unsuitable equipment’ . The report said : ‘ A safety - critical task … was undertaken by one individual who also carried total responsibility for the quality achieved and the installation was not tested until the aircraft was airborne on a passenger carrying flight.’ It said the shift maintenance manager , who was likely to be overtired , used spectacles to read small print or figures but did not wear them while replacing the panel . Turning to the CAA , the report said inspectors had failed to detect any significant engineering problems at Birmingham . One inspection visit , it said , lasted half a day .