Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: in the works (used idiomatically: yes)
It was mistakenly assumed that this trend represented a return to more traditional literary values ; an examination of such works reveals a postmodernist contestation of the conventional boundaries between genres and an intertextual mixture of writings , of which the fragmented subjectivity of the writer was itself a discourse capable of being plundered in order to generate text . This is very much in evidence in Marguerite Duras 's L'Amant ( 1984 ) , which began as a commentary on an album of family photographs and which dramatizes the fragility of identity and the textualization of recollection . In Philippe Sollers 's most recent works ( Le Coeur absolu ( 1987 ) and Les Folies françaises ( 1988 ) ) , the playful exploration of the drama of the male subject 's sexual psyche is frequently the central theme : these texts hover between the categories of fiction , literary essay and autobiography . This does not suggest that a return to psychological realism or a romanticization of the author is taking place ; rather , the autobiographical trend in recent writing demonstrates an attempt to maintain the plural and unrestricted nature of writing . Far from privileging authorial discourse , such writing submits the figure of the author and his / her subjectivity to intense scrutiny .
Idiom: hands down (used idiomatically: no)
We make our way back along the road to the orchard . I feel sorry for the French Commando being carried by the two German soldiers . Each time firing occurs close at hand , we all get down into the ditch — this adds to the pain and discomfort of the wounded . Two French Commandos take over and carry their wounded comrade the remaining part of the way ; he manages a smile as they pick him up . No doubt he feels safer in their presence .
Idiom: over the hill (used idiomatically: yes)
" Then El - ahrairah knew that Frith was too clever for him and he was frightened . He thought that the fox and the weasel were coming with Frith and he turned to the face of the hill and began to dig . He dug a hole , but he had dug only a little of it when Frith came over the hill alone . And he saw El - ahrairah 's bottom sticking out of the hole and the sand flying out in showers as the digging went on . When he saw that , he called out , " My friend , have you seen El - ahrairah , for I am looking for him to give him my gift ? "
Idiom: down the drain (used idiomatically: yes)
She made the country love her . ‘ The Queen Mother invented royal public relations , ’ says Margaret Holder . ‘ All those cosy pictures of the family around the fire , all that stiff upper lip during the war — and now she is determined not to see all her work go down the drain . ’ The Queen Mother is also a shrewd judge of character who makes it her business to keep an eye on new members of the family and , if necessary , step in to protect her beloved ‘ firm ’ . Like all great survivors , she has a ruthless streak .
Idiom: make the cut (used idiomatically: no)
Er you have er a substantial er appendix within your er agenda papers which set out proposals from the building 's policy panel which would help you to deal with some of those issues . I shall be very brief and simply mention that a number of the savings erm and the increased income that is available to , to avoid savings are the result of your own policies developed over a number of years and I hope implemented with a degree of further manage managerial action which has actually given you some money to spend , erm which will avoid you having to make er painful cuts in order to fund a new growth and in particular I would highlight the significant movement that has has now taken place , children from special educational needs provision outside the county , back into the county . Erm th the reduction in the cost of discretionary awards which is partly the result of the policies that are partly also changing the , in the national situation and increased recruitment funding and in an area into which officers put in a great deal of time to try to make sure that we do the equivalent they should be getting . It is a relief I suppose today , that I am able to speak to you on the basis erm of financial output which is a good deal more favourable than we expected even six months ago .
Idiom: on the make (used idiomatically: yes)
As a result I was ridiculed by the other children . This made me feel in later life that I was very unattractive , because I had had so many negative thoughts about my appearance earlier in my life . In one of my first jobs I plastered on the make - up and wore very executive - type suits . I was on the defensive and wore my makeup as a barrier . Later I found out that I had appeared fierce and unapproachable .
Idiom: all along (used idiomatically: no)
Dear Tim , David and Geoff Microconcord You will have received a copy of my handwritten ‘ Functional Specification ’ in which I have tried to take account of all the comments made during our session in Paris but have been somewhat hampered by the fact that I , too along with David and Geoff , have not been able to make the latest set of disks run . I have approached a programmer about providing a drop-down menu/windowing user interface and am very hopeful that it can be achieved . I have also mentioned our desire for cross-screen scrolling of KWIC and the ‘ more context ’ options ( screens £32 , £33 ) and he is to look into that as well .
Idiom: under fire (used idiomatically: no)
This changed the entire tactical situation , for Scheer , steaming toward the scene , had no option but to go to Hipper 's assistance . Beatty sighted Scheer 's fleet shortly before 16.40 and , being greatly outnumbered , turned north to join Jellicoe . The signal to turn about was , like Beatty 's earlier order , missed by Evan - Thomas , who continued on his original southward course until he ran into Scheer 's battleships and came under heavy fire . By now the two great flotillas — Jellicoe 's and Scheer 's — were rapidly closing with each other and the second major engagement of the action was about to open . The problem for the British was that they had seriously miscalculated their own positions .
Idiom: claim to fame (used idiomatically: yes)
It also cleaned fire - charred beams and exposed the structural soundness of the underlying solid wood . This could speed the checking and preserving of sound timbers that remain . If all goes well , the company could add ‘ by royal appointment’ to its other claims to fame . Save the sticky stuff WOBBLY teeth in unsound gums are as much of a problem in adults as tooth decay .
Idiom: man and boy (used idiomatically: yes)
Life - long love of badgers culminates in nursery for the sick and orphaned A NURSERY for the injured and orphaned is still awaiting its first patient several weeks after opening which is good news , say organisers . Mr Ken Wood , of Hilton Road , Seamer , near Stokesley , is to run the nursery , set up to reunite badgers with the wild . Aged 52 , he has been watching badgers ‘ man and boy’ and has never tired of their antics , especially the young at play with fox cubs . He has watched the same badger set for 46 years , he says , and with an average badger lifespan of under ten years , that means several generations . Mr Wood was one of 12 children but none of his nine sisters or two brothers ever shared his interest .
Idiom: tell tales (used idiomatically: no)
Their skyscrapers dominated the skylines of New York , London and Toronto , and provided homes for some of the world 's most powerful companies . Then the stage came tumbling down . Peter Foster tells the tale of this rise and fall , but his description of the family 's fall is the better - told part and , inevitably , the more gripping . Although most of the Reichmanns ' empire - building occurred in the 1980s , it already seems a far - away era when banks and their customers were willing to suspend disbelief and dare to be , well , if not great at least borrowed to the eyeballs . The Reichmanns ' dream began in Tangier , where they fled from Vienna to escape the Nazis .
Idiom: save face (used idiomatically: yes)
In a famous paper on logic and conversation , the philosopher H. P. Grice proposed that conversationalists acknowledge the existence of a ' cooperative principle ' which requires them to give as much information as is needed , to be truthful , relevant and not vague or ambiguous . People do not always observe the principle , of course , but where a speaker flouts it , the hearer will suspect she has a reason . For instance , someone who expresses her opinion of a friend 's appearance very vaguely may be suspected of doing so in order to be polite ( saving others ' face is a common motive for vagueness , untruthfulness and withholding information ) . Someone who tells me an apparently irrelevant fact may well want me to deduce a hidden inference in it , a proposition they prefer not to make explicit . In Grice 's theory , logic in conversation is not just a matter of explicit surface connections between utterances .
Idiom: to the tune of (used idiomatically: yes)
Gay added his own elegant and often ironic lyrics to traditional airs and ballads which have been atmospherically arranged by Ilona Sekacz for an excellent band . Without the radio mikes which have become de rigueur in most musicals , some of the solo singing sounds a little thin , and it 's a shame that Gay 's excellent words are n't always audible . But a few rough edges are welcome in these days of vacuous , glossy musicals , and numbers like Over the Hills and Far Away and Macheath 's bitter hymn about Tyburn Tree to the tune of Greensleeves are beautifully performed . There are some great set pieces — a brilliantly evoked highway robbery , with Macheath 's gang riding invisible horses and commandeering a stage coach suggested by just a table and a few boxes ; and a grotesque parade of whores , some of them played by men in drag , in which the ladies of the night emerge through a trap - door like beauty contestants from hell . Some of the individual performances could do with more definition and detail , but there 's terrific work from David Burt , who has exactly the right mixture of romantic swagger and ruthless cynicism as Macheath , as well as a first - rate singing voice .
Idiom: lose face (used idiomatically: yes)
I was most grateful for your hospitality on board ship , and wanted to offer you a small token of my appreciation.’ Tolonen smiled inwardly . He would have to brief Karr afterwards on how to escape from this situation , otherwise First Advocate Kung would be calling upon him for favours from here until doomsday , playing upon the Major 's need not to lose face . ‘ Thank you , Advocate , but … ’ Karr saw the case falling away , Kung raising the handgun , both hands clasping the handle , and reacted at once , straight - arming Tolonen so that the old man went down .
Idiom: do me a favour (used idiomatically: yes)
He 's a writer and a historian , and he 's growing his hair half - way down his back for his next one - man show . He 's ' squeaky clean ' — he gets high flying his own plane . ' Alcohol did me the greatest favour , which is that it brought me down to earth . I was otherwise condemned to be a Hollywood brat . By the age of 23 , I 'd starred in a one - man show on Broadway and when the play closed I confronted the truth that if I was n't the star of a play I could n't feed myself .
Idiom: over the top (used idiomatically: yes)
no just look I can see what he 's doing he 's being a zombie , so he 's coming downstairs with two sleeping bags over the top of his head and knocking everything over , just look at it Well he can vacuum up again He can do the lot and he can grow up as well , fifteen and he 's be playing at being zombies
Idiom: all over the shop (used idiomatically: yes)
Did that push you towards an ' alternative’ kind of sport like skating , rather then the more common football or darts or snooker ? P. I wanted to get into something where there was no - one telling me what to do all the time . With skating there 's no - one saying do this , do that all over the shop . N. No team captain to call the shots ? P. Yeah , no - one says ‘ c'mon do this’ no more shitty teachers or shitty teachers .
Idiom: feel the pinch (used idiomatically: yes)
A little to the right , on the other side of the lane , the eye dwells upon a small park , with a boating - lake catching the light , and some modest landscaping ; and through the bare winter trees one sees the chimneys of a seemly Victorian ‘ big house’ . The house and park were made as late as the 1870s . It must be one of the last parks to be made in England , for landowners began to feel the pinch of falling rents soon after that . The house , in fact , is older , for the work of the 1870s , though apparently a complete rebuilding , is merely a stone casing around a house originally built by a successful merchant of the Staple , whose inscription is still over the door : ‘ Thinke and Thanke Anno 1570 ’ . Three hundred years later his house was remodelled by another successful bourgeois — this time a wealthy Oxford brewer .
Idiom: on the ropes (used idiomatically: yes)
Hartlepool Boys Welfare featherweight Alan Temple reached the Royal Albert Hall finals on May 6 and said : ‘ There 's no way I 'll turn pro.’ Green was certainly unlucky , losing to Wales 's Mark Newton in a bout in which he admitted he was drawn into a slugging match rather than using his skills . He was given a questionable standing count in the second of three thrilling rounds , but he spent too much time battling rather than boxing and too much time on the ropes instead of using his footwork . But after the 59–58 , 59–58 , 5859 decision in Newton 's favour , he said : ‘ The judging was disgraceful . They not only took the title away , but took my dream away .
Idiom: walk of life (used idiomatically: no)
Dogs Today has joined forces with Pedigree Chum to run an exciting competition for 10 lucky people to win free tickets to see this thrilling doggie spectacular . The Working Dog of the Year Show is scheduled for the Sunday after the horse of the Year Show and is set to become the top spectator event in London for dog lovers . The 10 winners will see dramatic displays by working dogs from all walks of life . There 'll be demonstrations by the Metropolitan Police and Royal Army Veterinary Corps , showing how the military use dogs in their work . There 'll also be the Pedigree Chum Professional and Fun Agility Challenge finals , the Pedigree Formula Working Dog of the Year Awards and the fun Flyball competition .
Idiom: full marks (used idiomatically: yes)
' Sara has never concerned herself with the business . ' Kersey watched him go , an appreciative grin on his face . Full marks for presentation and content . Barry was by no means negligible . Wycliffe was back in the Incident Room .
Idiom: weather the storm (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ All right?’ ‘ Yes . How have you weathered the storm ? Was it awful down there?’ ‘ It was,’ Ruth said .
Idiom: out of this world (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Truly remarkable ’ — reserved for something extra special . ‘ Oh dear ’ — to express dismay at the less than gentlemanly antics of players . ‘ Out of this world ’ — usually used to describe rallies of high quality . There were the occasional gaffes , such as : ‘ When Martina is tense it helps her to relax ’ and ‘ A textbook shot there from Nastase — nobody can improvise better . ’
Idiom: paper over the cracks (used idiomatically: yes)
But , more than that , his predilection for Neath players deprived the club of their own best talent so that when they would otherwise have been training for the league , instead they were training for the Five Nations Championship . First of all this knocked the edge , whether hard or not , off Neath 's play last season . Coupled with the exit of some vital players , it was as much as Neath could do to paper over the cracks and keep winning . Indeed , it was an achievement that they managed it just long enough to clinch the Heineken title and then , once it did not matter any longer began to lose games at a rate that would have been unthinkable during the previous years of unbroken triumph . The travails of this season , dramatic though they have seemed , have in reality been an extension of that .
Idiom: larger than life (used idiomatically: yes)
Even in Minnie , the wild - west Valkyrie with the pure heart ? ‘ Yes , even in Minnie , who 's so unlikely that she 's probably true — there probably has been someone who grew up as she did , saloon - wise and card - sharping yet quite sure that she wants nothing to do with the kind of messing around she 's seen under her parents’ roof . And the larger - than - life scene with Rance , with the amazing motoric tension of the card game — all that out of context sounds naïve and , by the standards of modern psychology , pretty basic . But if you have an extremely subtle story , how are you going to set it to music ? The words and the theatrical element have in a sense taken the musical wind out of your sails .
Idiom: in your blood (used idiomatically: yes)
He turned and yelled at Hugh de Riveire and his men , who had launched on a private war at his back . He turned back . ‘ You have tides in your blood . When will they come?’ ‘ Not for a while .
Idiom: do someone proud (used idiomatically: yes)
Eva had a brand new wardrobe for only a small outlay . There seems to have been very little resentment that Eva should have such a unique opportunity . The family were more concerned that she should " do them proud " . They all bathed in the reflected glory of having a sister barely into her twenties who was going to travel to the other side of the world . Not surprisingly it was Margaret who felt the parting most .
Idiom: Jekyll and Hyde (used idiomatically: yes)
But will they ? Ireland did it against Italy on New Year 's Eve 1988 and Wales are scheduled to award caps for their game with the Italians in Cardiff on October 7th this year , so why not do the same , Scotland ? The final ‘ Jekyll and Hyde’ example shows both characteristics in one fell swoop . They were the first country to organise an international sevens tournament , which they did to celebrate their Centenary in 1973 . An injury time try by Keith Fielding won it for England against the brave Irish .
Idiom: in the final analysis (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ uncritical use of these statistics may seriously damage the health of the universities.’ The university abbreviations below are used for Figure 1a and 1b , which follow . The pressures driving research evaluation are , in the final analysis , political . In a speech delivered to the Royal Society , of which she is a Fellow , the then Prime Minister , Mrs Thatcher , said that We accept that we can not measure the value of the work by economic output but this is no argument for lack of careful management in the way specific projects are constructed .
Idiom: right as rain (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Those who called him crazy never knew him . When I was a little lad I had this mongrel puppy ; he got summat wrong wi’ him , and the vet wanted to put him down . Jake took him off me , kept him for a week , then brought him back , right as rain . I 'd have done anything for your dad , ever since . Even then the kids were calling him Crazy Jake , and I do n't know how many bloody noses I got in the playground , fighting to shut 'em up.’
Idiom: doom and gloom (used idiomatically: yes)
I am writing in support of‘Eldorado’ . It was n't too hot at first , but after getting rid of certain actors it really has improved . Good storylines , real people , not all doom and gloom like Brookside . Please Beeb , reconsider . I am a big fan of ‘ Eldorado’ .
Idiom: go to town (used idiomatically: no)
. Mhm . Oh I like going to town . really busy the shop . Well it seemed it the bairn 's been in .
Idiom: in a rut (used idiomatically: no)
When she came very near , I had a clear view of her face , turned brightly to the moonlight . There I read conflicting things . It was the intent face of female in rut — yet it was also the face of Justine , impersonal with death . If anything , his face was even more horrific , lacking as it did all but a travesty of humanity ; despite his animation , it still most resembled a helmet , a metal helmet with visor down , roughly shaped to conform to the outlines of a human face . The helmet had a tight slit across it , representing a smile .
Idiom: in no uncertain terms (used idiomatically: yes)
Old enough to take care of himself , while she had been eight years old . The apricot flush stained her cheeks again but this time it was anger — anger and bitterness . She wanted nothing at all from her father and she was about to tell Alain Lemarchand so in no uncertain terms . If he liked the house so much he could go and live in it himself and relive his happy memories . Her awe of him disappeared .
Idiom: over the top (used idiomatically: yes)
Hal Lindsay states that ‘ the West has been invaded by the East’ and ‘ every Christian must be equipped to meet the onslaught of Eastern thought’ . Christian attorney Constance Cumbey goes a step further in The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow when she writes of the ‘ coming age of barbarism’ , and describes the New Agers as a ‘ viable movement that truly meets the scriptural requirements for the Antichrist and the political movement that will bring him on the world scene’ . Are the Americans going over the top again , or is this an indictment which we should place on trial ? At least one Englishman thinks so . He is Roy Livesey , a leading New Age watcher on this side of the Atlantic .
Idiom: put down roots (used idiomatically: yes)
The closest polar desert approximations are protoranker soils — moist soils of very limited organic content underlying patches of moss and lichen ( Figure 3.6C ) . They tend to be alkaline , with soluble salts at the plant - soil interface and sometimes a brown mineral horizon below . Theoretically they mark a stage in the formation of organic soils , but as neither mosses nor lichens put down penetrating roots , and earthworms are lacking , organic material remains mostly superficial . Organic content of the soil beneath ranges from 3.1 % under lichens and 5.3 % under mosses ( Rudolph , 1966 ) to approaching 10 % under lichen mats ( Glasovskaya , 1958 ) . The vegetation cover has an insulating effect in spring , keeping the soil cool and humid and the level of permafrost high ( McCraw , 1960 ) .
Idiom: on edge (used idiomatically: yes)
It was only when the fog lifted that we noticed that we had slept on the edge of an abyss .
Idiom: grin like a Cheshire cat (used idiomatically: yes)
There was a bit of a snag when Gunter Friedmann lost his voice . ‘ How,’ I asked the co - driver , ‘ do you communicate?’ Gunter flicked his thumb this way and that and grinned like a Cheshire cat . It is a bit like the London Marathon , this Rally . At one end world superstars wrestling their megabucks motors round unnavigable corners at speeds to make your hair curl and , at the other end , Herr Kahlfuss and his chum tootling along on a nod and a wink .
Idiom: with a will (used idiomatically: no)
Anselm reverts to essentials Anselm was now in a very vexatious position . The papal letter which he was carrying to the king had been superseded by another , which spoke more mildly and suggested that Anselm himself had been a mischief - maker , and that a compromise agreement could be reached with good will on both sides . But in addition , when they reached Lyons , the king 's messenger told Anselm that the king would not allow him to return to England unless he promised to observe the customs of the kingdom as they had been in the time of Rufus . This was a clear breach of the understanding on which he had come on a joint mission to the pope .
Idiom: run out of steam (used idiomatically: yes)
An android stood over her . If this was death then she would stare it in the face . Although she had run out of steam and no longer cared whether she lived or died , there was no way she was going to give up . With all her energy she clenched her fists and drove them between the android 's legs . It hurt her arms but had no effect on the android .