Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: easier said than done (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ That would be the case if Liverpool won the championship and Wales qualified for the World Cup . ‘ I 'm sick last season has ended , but I 'm looking forward to the next one more than I have any season . ‘ I know it 's easier said than done , but if Liverpool can get one or two more players , I think we 'll be right up there . ‘ New signings give people a new lease of life . Nigel Clough will give us a lift .
Idiom: she'll be right (used idiomatically: no)
' You coped with me , ' he retorted , smiling down at her . ' Ana will be easier but with Mitch arriving every other weekend you may have to lay down the law a little . ' ' She 'll be all right , ' Maggie assured him softly . ' What about her training ? I 've already written about it .
Idiom: in light of (used idiomatically: yes)
Its strength lay rather in overcoming bilateral conflicts in the light of shared European interests and working out compromises that were also acceptable to the other partners .
Idiom: new blood (used idiomatically: yes)
It did however have commitment and Goodwin 's fund - raising abilities . It was his conception , his baby , and for it he would tolerate most things , including his suspicion of Trotskyism — whether of the IMG or IS variety — and of what he may have seen as Rowbotham 's ‘ hippy sentimentality’ . But it needed new blood . One infusion came from Cambridge economist Bob Rowthorne , still nominally a member of the International Socialists , but moving , unfashionably for the time but a precursor of things to come , towards the Communist Party . Ali rang Rowthorne and invited him round , and an invitation to join the editorial board followed .
Idiom: in the running (used idiomatically: no)
The state had been involved in the running of publicly - owned enterprises before the Second World War , but it was not until the post - war Labour governments of 1945 to 1951 that there was an attempt to extend public ownership to any significant degree . The Labour government was elected at a time when Keynesian economics was moving towards being accepted as economic orthodoxy . Keynesian policies were directed at ensuring full employment and involved government intervention in the running of the economy using demand management techniques ( refer also to Chapter 1 , page 13 ) . It was believed that this intervention would be aided if the state had control of certain key industries ( eg coal , railways , gas , electricity distribution ) , which were crucial to post - war economic recovery and which were in such a rundown state that it was unlikely that sufficient private capital would materialise to rejuvenate them . Many industries had suffered from a lack of investment during the depression in the 1930s and had been further weakened by the effects of the Second World War .
Idiom: party animal (used idiomatically: yes)
Could n't handle that any more . Yeah we know about you . I was such a party animal at the So fuck age of six months that they could n't handle me any more .
Idiom: in a fog (used idiomatically: yes)
And there was enough interest in the sale to prove that home grown Hereford cattle are well able to beat off competition from abroad . There are urgent calls tonight for lights to be installed on the motorway where one driver died and eight others were injured in a multiple pile - up . The accident happened last night in thick fog on the M - forty . Driving conditions were made worse by smoke from a burning lorry . The AA says lights would help , but police insist that once again drivers were going too fast in fog .
Idiom: neither here nor there (used idiomatically: yes)
But round the back of the Admiralty , put out in the yard like a dead cat … Why the Admiralty , of all places ? There 's something neither here nor there about it , neither plain enough nor mysterious enough , neither explicable nor inexplicable . Though if he took his own life , as everyone has always supposed , and as we are still likely to be supposing after the present rumours have been scotched — if the balance of his mind was disturbed , that curious disruption which accompanies a man 's election to end his life , but never any other procedure , no matter how eccentric or irrational — then reasons are not to be looked for . I turn the pages of the cuttings book .
Idiom: out of thin air (used idiomatically: yes)
HEARTS OF DARKNESS : A KING - hell , behind the scenes look at the making of Apocalypse Now , this documentary is hilarious and nerve - wracking ; an infinitely superior proposition to Coppola 's overrated Vietnam epic . See Martin Sheen drunkenly method act himself into a heart attack , watch made Marlon improvise pure nonsense out of thin air and discover the real - life Dennis Hopper to be more manic than his character . The definitive movie as battleground epic . NIGHTBREED :
Idiom: anything goes (used idiomatically: no)
Despite all his talk about having a clear conscience , about Gentle being the man to save her , he was deeply reluctant to hand the letter over . ‘ I thought so,’ Gentle said . ' You want to make sure I look like the guilty party if anything goes wrong . Well , go fuck yourself.’ He turned from Estabrook and started down the hill .
Idiom: play ball (used idiomatically: no)
' PITCH AND RUN This is a real St Andrew 's stroke , played with the right hand — firm grip with the fingers of the same hand . The ball should be played nearer the right foot than in other shots . Weight , however , is slightly on the left foot , short grasp of club with both wrists at angle to the shaft , the left hand being rather over the shaft ( to right ) ; take the club almost straight back from the ball with club head lifted but slightly . Hit through the ball , keep the left hand going straight through to the end of stroke , and allow the right hand to do the hitting .
Idiom: hot under the collar (used idiomatically: yes)
Freed verse THE PENGUIN BOOK OF RENAISSANCE VERSE David Norbrook ( selecter ) ; H R Woudhuysen ( editor ) Allen Lane , £ 25 Lucasta Miller Reviewing a poetry anthology can be a perilous business . The reviewer is likely to get hot under the collar if a personal favourite has been left out and can easily end up merely drawing up a rival selection . Luckily , David Norbrook has , in his own words , been ‘ greedily inclusive’ in his Penguin Book of Renaissance Verse , so I 'm spared the temptation to bore you with a shopping - list of titles that should have gone in but did n't . There 's something wonderfully Renaissance about Norbrook 's depiction of himself as a glutton for poetry , cramming in as much as possible .
Idiom: bite the bullet (used idiomatically: yes)
For a start , throw out the negative - sounding phrase ‘ hung parliament’ and use ‘ partnership parliament’instead . It means PR . It means Labour biting the bullet . It probably means the Lib Dems compromising , not getting quite the system they want . So what ?
Idiom: on the shelf (used idiomatically: yes)
For example , Spar products are identified by a small spruce tree logo . Some retailers use distinctive packaging for their own brands , eg one supermarket chain packaged everything in bright yellow . This means that customers who like the retailer 's own brand goods can quickly identify them on the shelves . Trade names A well - known trade name often helps to sell a product .
Idiom: up against it (used idiomatically: yes)
Voice over A horse called Metronome and a rider called Pippa Nolan set the pace over the cross country course at Blenheim on Saturday … second after the dressage they pushed into the lead … a re - run of last year when Pippa went and lost it on the showjumping … this year the field was even tougher Pippa Nolan says they 're up against it all the time … lots of riders have young horses and they 've all had good rounds … but it 's a sport of ups and downs and this year she 's had her fair share of downs The big challenge came from everybody 's favourite Ginny Leng … she was riding Welton Romance and after racing around the 28 fence course was just two penalty points down from the leader … less than once fault in the showjumping … So everything was riding on the last day …
Idiom: fall short (used idiomatically: no)
In 1985 , 11,358 students enrolled on teacher training courses , just under a third ( 32 % ) of them in universities and the rest in public sector higher education , i.e. polytechnics and colleges ( see Figure 7.6 ) . This was 5 % below the government 's planned intake , mostly because of an under - recruitment of those planning to teach in secondary schools . Recruitment in some subjects such as mathematics fell 32 % short of the government 's targets . The proportion of the teaching force who have degrees has been steadily increasing ( see Figure 7.7 ) . It is higher among men than women , with the lowest proportion of graduates teaching in primary schools and the highest in non - maintained schools ( see Figure 7.8 ) .
Idiom: out of the box (used idiomatically: yes)
' I an no admirer of President Reagan , ' she said in her precise way . ' But I must quote him here : You ai n't seen nothing yet . ' There was a mangle in one room rearing up out of the cardboard boxes like a stag , the chaos ( or the wolves ) had not yet pulled down . But it was a neat chaos of boxes piled on each other , cakes still in the tins they came in and hatboxes , one of which contained the last remaining ball of her long - ago childhood . In the passage , done up with string and still unopened , were the parcels and Christmas cards sent by the world and his brother when they learned she was moving home three months ago … !
Idiom: in someone's pocket (used idiomatically: yes)
Do n't ever try . ' He finishes counting . I take the two thousand and he stuffs the rest of his money back in his trouser pocket . He handles the wad carelessly , like a handkerchief . The money seems valueless to him .
Idiom: come to a head (used idiomatically: yes)
CAMEROON Pressure for political change — Amnesty — New Prime Minister Several months of public disorder incidents , accompanied by calls for political reforms , appeared to be coming to a head during April , with rioting and repression reported in Douala , Yaoundé , Bamenda , Ngaoundéré , Maroua , Bafoussam , Kumba , and other main centres . Police fought with students at Yaoundé University on April 2 , as they demanded the end of President Paul Biya 's rule and a national conference to prepare for political reform . The following day the capital witnessed serious street fighting between police and thousands of youths .
Idiom: win the day (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ I 'm a realist,’ he said flatly . ‘ In my job , it 's a prerequisite.’ He lolled back in his chair to light a cigar , displaying the carefree indifference of a man who knows he has won the day . Eyeing Harris covertly above the flame of his lighter , he said : ‘ Well ? Do I get your backing or do I not?’
Idiom: by heart (used idiomatically: yes)
It probably was n't , but he was in too much pain to argue , so he nodded , and immediately became Jimbo . I had to think carefully now — if only to remember the exact procedure . It had been running through my thoughts so often that I knew it by heart , yet now I was suddenly afraid that I might do the wrong thing ! For this was not a treatment to be found in Gray 's Anatomy . First , while the water was boiling , I had to find some piece of stout wood to hold the boy 's dropped foot in the proper position —‘the position of function’ as Reid had called it .
Idiom: light at the end of the tunnel (used idiomatically: no)
Amstrad feels the byte of recession But Sugar 's not down - hearted down White Hart Lane ‘ Would n't mind if the light at the end of the tunnel was an oncoming train … ’ In the week that Alan Sugar was revealed to be Britain 's top earner under the age of 45 , his company , Amstrad , announced its first loss in 23 years . Once the great white hope of our consumer electronics industry , Amstrad lost £ 15.2 m in the six months to December , a far cry from the £ 160 m profits made only four years ago .
Idiom: wipe the floor with (used idiomatically: yes)
NEW ~ YORK – At a debate in New ~ York last year entitled “ Buy American / Hire American ~ Policies Will Backfire , ” with hundreds of people in attendance , my team of three free - trade proponents took on a trio of protectionists who are often in the public eye . We expected that we would lose the final audience vote by 55 % to 45 % . As it happened , we wiped the floor with them , winning by an unprecedented margin of 80 % to 20 % . The feedback from several voters was that we had won handily because we had the “ arguments and the evidence , ” whereas our opponents had “ assertions and invective . ” Evidently , the pessimism and despair that often overwhelms free traders today is unwarranted .
Idiom: behind the curve (used idiomatically: yes)
The most serious is global ~ warming . While the global economy ’s weak performance has led to a corresponding slowdown in the increase in carbon emissions , it amounts to only a short respite . And we are far behind the curve : Because we have been so slow to respond to climate ~ change , achieving the targeted limit of a two - degree ( centigrade ) rise in global temperature , will require sharp reductions in emissions in the future . Some suggest that , given the economic slowdown , we should put global ~ warming on the backburner . On the contrary , retrofitting the global economy for climate ~ change would help to restore aggregate demand and growth .
Idiom: drop the ball (used idiomatically: yes)
At 263 for 5 , England did n't need to worry . Watson then had one for himself — Reeve lbw . Parore dropped Lewis first ball , and again before stumps . On the fourth morning , seven wickets ( as many as on all of Saturday ) fell in 42 minutes of play . Hartland took a fine gully catch to dismiss Russell ; Pringle ran one to Lewis 's one - and - a - half followed by a long walk .
Idiom: as a rule (used idiomatically: yes)
It may be said , as a rule , that the climate of Japan is mild .
Idiom: close ranks (used idiomatically: no)
Could not imperialism go hand-in-hand with prosperity for the working man ? Here was the genesis of the myth , destined to lead to so many follies and disasters , that Britain was rich , as well as powerful , because of her Empire . The close links between the Fabians and Milner 's kindergarten on the one hand , and the personal link in Chamberlain 's own career between radical reform and tariff imperialism — he wanted the Conservative Party to hypothecate the financial yield of the preferential tariff to providing old age pensions — are reminders that at the beginning of the century ‘ social imperialism ’ did not sound the paradox it does today , and that the forefathers of modern British Socialism are to be found in larger numbers in the ranks of the imperialists than of the Little Englanders . Milner in 1907 was writing : ‘ there can be no adequate prosperity for the forty or fifty million people in these islands without the Empire and all that it provides ’ . It was the same idea of the Empire as a patrimony , or an estate , the source of a livelihood for the mothercountry , to which Chamberlain had appealed : ‘ I know how our forefathers … bore themselves bravely in the titanic strife with Napoleon and came out victorious .
Idiom: face to face (used idiomatically: no)
tuition material only . modules ( group of units , topic specific ) . Face to Face tutorials — winter and summer . intensive revision seminars — winter and summer .
Idiom: to the bone (used idiomatically: yes)
These processes will be described in detail in the following sections so that comparisons can be made with the effects of predation described in Chapters 2 and 3 . Decay In studies of small mammal decay , it has been found that in hot climates the soft parts decay and the carcase is reduced to bone and sinew within 6–8 days ( Korth , 1979 ) . The bones disarticulate into separate elements within 12 days . In cooler climates of northern Europe , the decomposition of vole carcases takes 10–40 days depending on temperature and invertebrate activity ( Nabaglo , 1973 ) .
Idiom: take someone to task (used idiomatically: yes)
You 'll have to fit yourself into other surroundings , as I had to do so often.’ ‘ Actually , I can fit myself into most surroundings,’ Alain informed her . He was smiling to himself — some private joke — and it made her anger rise swiftly , but he went on before she could take him to task . ‘ You are very changeable , Jenna , adapting to different circumstances like a camouflage . You are angry , vulnerable , gentle , fierce , with such bewildering speed that I find it fascinating .
Idiom: foot the bill (used idiomatically: yes)
This number will grow dramatically as the baby boom generation reaches retirement in the twenty - first century ( see table opposite ) . In the next 30 years , Britain expects the number of people over 65 to increase by 20 % and the number of people over 84 to increase by 47 % . This prospect has led to a retrenchment in state pension provision and an emphasis on informal caring systems , two attempts to reduce the need for society to foot the bill of its ageing population . The elderly population in Great Britain : past , present and future Projections for the future ( made in 1987 )
Idiom: off the mark (used idiomatically: no)
KIEREN Perkins achieved his second world record in 48 hours when he clocked 14min 48.40sec in the men 's 1,500 metre freestyle at the Australian Open championships in Canberra last night . Perkins , 18 , took nearly two seconds off the previous best of 14min 50.36sec recorded by Germany 's Joerg Hoffman at the 1991 world championships in Perth . On Friday night Perkins 's 400 m time of 3–46.47 had shaved 0.48 seconds off the old mark set by Uwe Dassler , of East Germany , at the 1988 Olympics . BASKETBALL Giants denied play - off place
Idiom: pop the question (used idiomatically: yes)
The boy 's been released into the care of the social services . A fireman and his girlfriend are tonight engaged after he proposed to her forty feet off the ground . He put a ladder up to her office window to pop the question as she sat at her desk . As Richard Barnett reports , it was all just part of St Valentine 's Day fever . CHELTENHAM Gloucestershire
Idiom: make ends meet (used idiomatically: yes)
For them there was nothing tame about not living in the fast lane ; nothing sanctimonious about unconsciously keeping clear of the edge of the cliff . None thought of themselves as prudent — the word beloved of the philosophic writers — let alone prudes . They had no machinery for making ends meet . The sustained discipline required to keep accounts was boringly time - consuming and beyond the capabilities of most . In February 1990 , a Gallop Survey , found that most people did not know how to manage their money , and just muddled through .
Idiom: take the floor (used idiomatically: yes)
Not ever again to be invited to the waltz ? But now she could see the charm , could read the meaning , of the observer 's role , a meaning inaccessible to a sixteen - year - old , to a thirty - year - old — for the observer was not , as she had from the vantage , the disadvantage of childhood supposed , charged with an envious and impotent malice , and consumed with a fear of imminent death : no , the observer was filled and informed with a quick and lively and long - established interest in all those that passed before , in all those that moved and circled and wheeled around , was filled with intimate connections and loving memories and hopes and concerns and prospects . Nor was the observer impotent , for it was through the potency of the observer that these children took their being and took the floor . Actual children , children of the heart and the imagination , old friends , new friends , the children of friends , they circle , they weave , and the pattern is both one 's own and not one 's own , it is of the making of generations . One is no longer the hopeful or the despairing guest : one is host in the house of oneself .
Idiom: neck and neck (used idiomatically: yes)
by Our City Staff STOCK and currency markets are braced for a knife edge finish to the election campaign with a new batch of opinion polls pointing towards a hung parliament . Three polls show Labour two percentage points ahead , one gives Labour a six point lead , another puts them three points ahead and Gallup for The Sunday Telegraph has Labour and Tories neck and neck . All eyes will be on the pound . Any further selling from the current DM2.8308 rate would put the Bank of England on amber alert for a base rate rise .
Idiom: pull a face (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ I 'm glad I spoke to you,’ she said . ‘ Sorry about the spitting and things.’ Tammuz pulled a face . ‘ There are no excuses for the past , kid . I wo n't even try to think of any .
Idiom: off the record (used idiomatically: yes)
He may want to get rid of her anyway . That 's not a good illustration . But there 's no , people who say things are off the record means that ‘ I do n't want to be , but I want it to get into the system’ . You 're just asking too much , it 's like asking a bear not to touch a pot of honey . Never ever get into a situation where you say , ‘ Well informally and off the record,’ because , because it will come back and haunt you subsequently .
Idiom: spring to mind (used idiomatically: yes)
It 's also a doddle of a post to a certain extent because the next manager automatically qualifies for the European Championship and with all the home support would stand a good chance of doing very well . England playing Holland at Elland Road with Wilko as manager — what a thought ! Two questions spring to mind . 1 ) dare I say it , but did his inability last season to recognize the poor defence we had and his obsession with midfielders imply that maybe he still has a lot to learn ?
Idiom: on the same page (used idiomatically: yes)
His instant sincerity was much appreciated by all concerned . Keegan ' did the business ' on the field and off . On the same page appeared a sharp rebuke to Ken Brown , an idiosyncratic professional golfer , who had committed the unforgivable sin of refusing to give interviews to the press or television and making good his escape from a crowd of journalists by vaulting over a barrier . ' We view Brown 's behaviour very seriously , ' said the presiding official , ' he is doing a disservice to the PGA [ Professional Golfers ' Association]and to everyone concerned with the game . ' The promoter of the tournament went further : ' It 's time the PGA brought in a disciplinary element for this sort of behaviour .
Idiom: get the picture (used idiomatically: yes)
' They 're determined to make a lady out of her , ' Mother had said . No one would explain why it seemed so important . ' When it 's her birthday she only gets holy pictures and holy water fonts , ' Benny reported . ' That 's all the nuns have , you see . ' ' God , that would turn a few of them over in their graves up there under the yew trees , ' Benny 's father had said , but again there was no explanation of why .
Idiom: turn someone's head (used idiomatically: yes)
My heart lurched and seemed to miss a beat , but I went on reading calmly , though the print was blurred . At the end of my reading , the lecturer asked the newcomer his name , and I heard his voice for the first time — a soft , warm American accent , with the rich , furry tone the English find so attractive . I stole a quick sidelong glance , and saw him turn his head at the same instant to look at me and give a faint smile . I turned my head away quickly , but I had had time to take in another feature — his rather sharp , small nose that looked as if it might have been broken in a boxing match . Then he gave his name , one of those Midwest American names , I guessed , probably originally Ukrainian , from Kansas or Montana .