Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: drop the ball (used idiomatically: yes)
But , being , a cunning old devil and a bit of a peeping tom,(a purvoyeur ) , he knew where every valuable had been hidden and late one night he removed everything leaving the holes empty . On discovery the following morning , the wives were extremely angry and frustrated and broke into the clubhouse , selected a club each and in groups of twos , threes and fours began to search for the Maharajah . These ladies in full flight scared the pants off the eunuchs who were standing guard on their tees , and who immediately dropped their balls and scarpered with the wives in hot ' pur ' suit . The first wife to reach the tee exclaimed , ' Ugh — what 's this disgusting object ! ' and promptly took a swipe at it with her club . Thwack — the ball soared into the air and dropped into the nearest empty hole .
Idiom: come to mind (used idiomatically: yes)
Now think about the reality that you want to create . What sort of self - image would you need to create to support this ? Scribble down everything that comes to mind . Now pick on a word which describes your new self - image ( e.g. winner , adventurer , sparkler , powerhouse , inventor , joybringer , enthusiast , philosopher ) . How would this person think , feel and behave ?
Idiom: tongue in cheek (used idiomatically: yes)
She wrote : ' To Buckingham Palace to play for Lady Diana . We all worked hard at the lesson , no time wasted . When the lesson was over Lady Diana , with her tongue in her cheek , said : ' I suppose Miss Snipp will now go direct to Fleet Street . She has a good sense of humour — she will need it in the years to come . ' The most poignant lesson , which proved to be the last , was held a few days before the wedding .
Idiom: on and off (used idiomatically: yes)
Automatic time switches attached to your lighting system are easy to fit and a marvellous idea for those who live alone . These devices can be set by you to switch lights on and off for determined periods while you are away from home . This means that while you are out for the evening , anyone who may be watching the house will be unsure as to whether you are at home or not , because various lights will go on and off at different times . If you do not buy one of these make sure that you always leave some lights switched on inside the house — even if you are going out at eight o'clock in the morning and will not be back until midnight . A few pence on the electricity bill is nothing compared with your security .
Idiom: in business (used idiomatically: yes)
Yet only 33 per cent would identify themselves as feminists and 76 per cent said they pay ‘ not very much’ or ‘ no’attention to the women 's movement . What many feminists find most surprising about the article is its appearance at a time when the abortion issue has regalvanised women . ‘ A few years back , you could not get young women to be active,’ said Judy Miller , president of the Los Angeles - based Trusteeship , an organisation of influential women in business and the arts . ‘ Today they 're coming forward as they see their rights being taken away.’ Whatever the extent of the outcry against the story , no matter , because author Wallis is prepared to defend it .
Idiom: left and right (used idiomatically: yes)
Anyway , I digress , back to the story . On arrival Rick and I walked around the lake and chose two likely looking swims towards the bottom end near the dam where we proceeded to set up the carp rods . After sorting out our bases we cut a couple of small gaps in the reeds to our left and right and put in the rests for the cat rods . Two hours later we were ready to start fishing so we baited the cat rods with squid and cast these out at varying distances to try and locate any patrol routes that were being used . With all the cat rods out we returned to the carp rods and decided to start fishing with sweetcorn and luncheon meat all on straight running leger rigs , the idea being to get some indication of any activity early on .
Idiom: in a fog (used idiomatically: yes)
' The cab was so full of smoke , I could n't see into it , ' Paul Sharples said . ' I thought , ' Either he 'll cook , or I 'll have to go in and get him ' . ' The lorry and a Rover car had collided in thick fog on the M61 near Bolton , Greater Manchester . A man and woman in the car died as it was crushed under the lorry . Then the Rover burst into flames .
Idiom: on the cards (used idiomatically: no)
The review model came with 4Mb of RAM and an 80Mb hard disk . However , the machine has 2Mb of RAM as standard — which can be expanded to 10Mb — and versions with 60Mb and 120Mb hard drives are available . ON THE CARDS One of the most notable features of the 320SLi is it PCMCIA ( Personal Computer Memory Card International Association ) slot . PCMCIA is a standard , agreed between a large number of companies , which allows a range of devices to be built onto a card about the size of a credit card .
Idiom: over the counter (used idiomatically: yes)
In common with most Third World countries , the pharmaceutical industry is in the hands of multinational companies and there is no effective quality control over their products . There is a government Sanitary Committee , but doctors report members as corrupt and irresponsible and companies operating their own control mechanisms can afford to be very lax . Multinationals are not obliged to provide detailed information about products and in practice there are no restrictions on buying any product over the chemist counter without prescription . Over the last three years , the health services and general levels of health have deteriorated significantly . In 1983 , public health and social welfare received one of the biggest expenditure cuts of all the public sectors .
Idiom: hold your horses (used idiomatically: yes)
That 's only a single room . At that rent it has to be . ' ' Hold your horses , Mrs Parvis . You wo n't get him stopping here , not for all the tea in China . He 's fixing us up in a flat , with kitchenette , out Godalming way , a live - in maintenance job . '
Idiom: under the influence (used idiomatically: yes)
Conservation and innovation The second major issue in professional courses is the balance between conservation and innovation . It has already been suggested that whereas academic courses tend to change incrementally , perhaps under the influence of research , professional courses seem to need the new broom of a major report every so often to bring about change . To be sure , this contrast is over - stated , and academic fields have periods of relative stagnation and sudden revolution , just as professional ones can evolve almost without anyone noticing in response to shifts in practice . For example , computing has infiltrated most professions now without any great ballyhoo , and in many of the ‘ people - professions’ the attitude to the client has shifted steadily towards a rather less authoritarian one .
Idiom: go without saying (used idiomatically: yes)
He must motivate and involve all his staff and he must live within and meet his budget . Regrettably , even today , there are a number of health service insiders who feel that they are an exception to these general rules and look down on the ways of industry with the patronizing assurance of those who know that ‘ we are different’ . It goes without saying that the Labour front bench supported all of the most reactionary arguments that could be found to oppose the management reforms . Yet today no serious figure inside or outside the health service would argue that we should return to the old system . The management of the health service is now infinitely better than it was and the trend to devolving responsibility downwards has continued apace .
Idiom: small print (used idiomatically: yes)
He even wondered if he ought to suggest to Paul Lexington that that sentence was put on a hoarding outside the theatre , but did n't quite have the nerve . The producer had been satisfied with snipping out from the same review the words , ‘ a thoroughly solid evening 's entertainment’ , to join the other encomiums that guarded the Variety 's portals . ( These others , incidentally , demonstrated once again Paul Lexington 's very personal definition of truth and his skill in the use of small print . Since he had n't got any London press reviews , he had used the Taunton ones , and artfully disguised their provenance . Thus the passerby would observe in large letters the exhortation , ‘ I urge everyone to go and see The Hooded Owl now!— Times’ .
Idiom: cross the Rubicon (used idiomatically: yes)
Brown could n't tell whether it was from the day spent in police custody or the general tension electrifying the population . ‘ I think you 're overestimating Kopyion . General Bourbollon 's troops are gathering around the capital ; he 's prepared to cross the Rubicon . Even if the Academy is ‘ allowed’ to meet , we 'll find ourselves under house arrest.’ ‘ The people would rise up,’ Mann said excitedly .
Idiom: anything goes (used idiomatically: yes)
GRAHAM TAYLOR last night revealed for the first time what Paul Gascoigne 's return means to him . ‘ I ca n't remember an England player having had such an impact on a team,’ he said . ‘ Please God , do n't let anything go wrong for this lad , in any way.’ The England manager was reflecting on the exhilarating 4–0 World Cup qualifying victory over Turkey . Fit - again Gascoigne was centre stage with a virtuoso display and two goals , and Taylor also soaked his other players in a sea of praise .
Idiom: foot the bill (used idiomatically: yes)
No doubt the Euro - fanatics will want the Swiss — with the Danes — to vote again . How strange it is that the Danish ‘ No’ vote does not count , while the narrow French ‘ Yes’vote does . And we are not allowed to vote at all , but you can bet we will be expected to foot the bill when the European dream turns into a nightmare . Swiss vote gives us hope AT LONG last we have a newspaper that will speak up for a referendum on Maastricht .
Idiom: dyed in the wool (used idiomatically: no)
coming face to face with the technicolour dream car . We meet the schoolboy painter who 's turned a BMW into a work of art . Plus : Dyed in the wool … the textile mill that 's gone up for sale And … On a witchhunt … the hopefuls cursing their way to stardom .
Idiom: on the cards (used idiomatically: yes)
And so , while the masses of the people got a quarter pound of black bread on their bread cards , he had an abundance of white bread , sugar , tea , candy , cake and butter ....
Idiom: to the tune of (used idiomatically: yes)
LOW & Bonar has sold its last remaining African interests . The Dundee - based packaging and materials multinational has been looking to sell off its interests in South Africa , Zimbabwe and Zambia for a number of years . The sale will hit Bonar 's bottom line profits figure to the tune of £ 1.2 million , to be provided for as an exceptional item in the group 's results to 30 November . The African disposal closes a chapter in the company 's history which goes back to 1925 , and cuts Bonar 's last links with the traditional clothing textile market . As recently as 1982 Africa contributed more than 90 per cent of Low & Bonar 's earnings .
Idiom: make history (used idiomatically: no)
In Becker 's introduction to later editions of this book , he describes the value of the life - history in sociology . It is not fiction , nor is it conventional autobiography , which tends to say what the author wishes us to know . The sociologist 's task , compared with the novelist 's , is to make the life - history : ' more down to earth , more devoted to our purposes than those of the author , less concerned with artistic values than with a faithful rendering of the subject 's experience and interpretation of the world he lives in . The sociologist who gathers a life - history takes steps to ensure that it covers everything we want to know , that no important fact or event is slighted , that what purports to be factual squares with other available evidence and that the subject 's interpretations are honestly given . '
Idiom: head over heels (used idiomatically: yes)
Most of the lodgers were transient steel erectors , working for short periods on small jobs and then moving on . They were a mixed bunch , O.K. for the most part— one had to be thrown out for drawing genitals on Arthur the doll , thus adding to my scant sexual knowledge , and one , a regular called John , was particularly charming and handsome . They fell head over heels in love and my real Mother returned . making a brief but dazzling comeback before crashing on to the spikes of despair once more when John fell to his death from a lofty scaffold , and history repeated itself The pills reappeared .
Idiom: to boot (used idiomatically: yes)
Bill had expected that question , but he could not prevent there coming across his inward eye the memory of the grubby calendar in Onyx 's kitchen , with the new red ring round Thursday the twenty - ninth . ‘ Family reasons,’ he pronounced laconically . Now family reasons can be anything from baby 's colic to a wife running off with the milkman , and there is no arguing with them , because it is indelicate to inquire further , and potentially embarrassing to boot . Mr Crumwallis blinked . ‘ Ah — yes — er — I see.’
Idiom: rank and file (used idiomatically: yes)
The majority of these state criminals or politically ' untrustworthies'(neblagonadezhnye ) , sprung from Russia 's educated classes and her critically - thinking elite , that is , the intelligentsia . They thus represented a specific stage in the history of the revolutionary movement as a whole — that of the largely non - gentry , déclassé radicals , or raznochintsy , of which Chernyshevskii was the archetypal figure . Around the turn of the century , however , the social composition of Siberia 's community of political exiles became more diversified , more ' plebeian ' , as thousands of striking workers , members of Marxist - inspired proletarian organizations , rebellious peasants , participants in national liberation movements in the non - Russian borderlands , anarchists , rank - and - file Mensheviks , Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries became involved in the empire - wide tidal wave of social and political protest during the dying years of the imperial regime . While the government was to some extent successful in thereby isolating its opponents from their comrades in European Russia and elsewhere , the ' democratrization ' of the political exile operation only served to disseminate the seeds and agents of revolutionary change in greater numbers and into the remotest corners of the empire . Through the government 's own policies , therefore , Siberia was well supplied with an experienced and committed cohort of exiled revolutionary activists when revolution itself , followed by civil war , swept across the country during and after 1917 .
Idiom: have a heart (used idiomatically: no)
long , very nice , very posh , erm I do n't know what me dad 's is like , er me mum was laughing er yesterday erm with er doing all this work she 'd done a load of washing and pegged it all out and when she 'd got in from work dad had ironed it all Oh I 've , I 've never ever known him to iron anything ever since I 've been you know , little , I 've never seen him iron anything but me mum was in fits because he 'd even ironed the socks so she said she did n't have the heart to tell him that she does n't usually bother with the ruddy socks , but er the thought was there was n't it ? Very nice , oh yes Good god
Idiom: to the max (used idiomatically: yes)
I 'm in the dark hotel at the side of the black loch and it 's close to midnight and I 'm drunk but not stoned and so 's Andy and his pal Howie and I 'm sitting in the old ballroom on the lower ground floor , looking out over the waters to where grey ghostly moonlit mountains rise , tops glowing softly , capped with snow , and I 'm playing computer games . In fact I 'm playing Xerium , of all things , and blow me down , blow me up if I have n't just found out how to get over the Mountains of Zound at long , long last . It 's easy but sneaky ; you ferry a dump of fuel , shielding , a nuke and a missile , load up on fuel and a nuke , fly out and up eight clicks , drop the nuke at the foot of the mountains , power - dive back down to base , load the shielding , fuel to the max with just one missile aboard ( meanwhile the nuke explodes , shaking the ground ; you do n't want to be fuelling at this point ) , then you climb like fuck , get to ceiling and then hover in the air above the rising mushroom cloud ! The cloud comes up beneath you and carries you up with it over your normal ceiling . The shielding protects you — though you still need to do some fancy flying to stay stable within the radioactive thermals — then as the cloud dissipates you cut out and down , across the mountains — they look tiny!— swoop across the closed valley , loose the missile when the base 's defence radar picks you up and use the last of your fuel to escape over the far side while the missile takes out the base .
Idiom: fly the flag (used idiomatically: yes)
International law recognised that it was for each state to determine the conditions upon which it granted its nationality to ships , subject to there being a genuine link between the flag state and the vessel . The United Kingdom referred in that connection to article 5(1 ) of the Geneva Convention on the High Seas 1958 ( United Nations Treaty Series 450 , No . 6465)(Cmnd . 1929 ) which reads : ' Each state shall fix the conditions for the grant of its nationality to ships , for the registration of ships in its territory , and for the right to fly its flag . Ships have the nationality of the state whose flag they are entitled to fly . There must exist a genuine link between the state and the ship ; in particular , the state must effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control in administrative , technical and social matters over ships flying its flag .
Idiom: out on a limb (used idiomatically: yes)
They are my favourite people . ACHILTIBUIE Achiltibuie in Coigach is literally out on a limb . Every time I go , I feel I am approaching the end of the world . Going south from Lochinver , the road reaches a T - junction , left to Ullapool , but a diversion to the right , to Achiltibuie , is recommended .
Idiom: rank and file (used idiomatically: yes)
The second issue is how — no longer whether — the party will split . One faction , called the Democratic Platform , wants to turn the Communist party into a social democratic one . This group is demanding that delegates to the party congress next July be directly elected by rank - and - file members . This would deprive party bosses of control over the election . If it does not get its way , the Democratic Platform has threatened to leave the party , abandoning it to conservatives like Mr Yegor Ligachev , who has renewed his strident criticism of Mr Gorbachev .
Idiom: light at the end of the tunnel (used idiomatically: yes)
A doctor who suspected anorexia referred her to a psychiatrist . She now undergoes intense counselling to rebuild her life . For Sarita there is some light at the end of the tunnel , but other Asian girls continue to suffer in darkness . DESPAIR : Many girls are too scared to ask for help struggling to cope with conflicting cultures SUNRISE SHINES
Idiom: make light of (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ By tradition the money always comes in at the end . We have got terrific faith in the Welsh public,’ John said . ‘ I 'm not making light of the situation , it 's very very serious , and we are still hoping that somebody in Wales will come forward to be our main sponsor . ‘ Under no circumstances will any of those competitors who have been chosen be told they can not go.’ Despite the money problems , the team have a golden glint .
Idiom: have a few (used idiomatically: yes)
Nuclear disarmament is therefore still urgently needed , and prominent politicians in the US and Germany have produced the US - led Global Zero initiative and createdthe International ~ Commission on Nuclear Non - Proliferation and Disarmament ( ICNND ) , sponsored by Australia and Japan and co - chaired by former Foreign ~ Ministers Yoriko ~ Kawaguchi and Gareth Evans . The US , Russia , France , the United ~ Kingdom , and China – all NPT signatories – possess nine - tenths of the world ’s nuclear ~ weapons , while India , Pakistan , and probably Israel possess around 1,000 . North ~ Korea presumably has a few , and Iran is most likely pursuing a nuclear - weapons program . Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev have agreed to reduce their strategic arsenals to 1,550 weapons each – far more than the 1,000 that Obama had in mind , but nonetheless a huge step that could bring about further cuts . But the road to global nuclear disarmament will be long and bumpy .
Idiom: kiss of death (used idiomatically: yes)
It was , of course , from their point of view a welcome scheme . The mobility allowance amounted initially to £ 10 a week and was recognised as anything but adequate . The fact that a scheme could be contrived that made it a working possibility for the majority of the disabled to acquire a motor car of their choice and to finance the purchase , including insurance and repair , from the allowance , was a staggering revelation to economists and particularly to the socialists of the time who regarded private enterprise as the kiss of death . Motability has been one of the few established successes of a mixed economy . The government has provided the resources in the way of the allowance and in the way of an administrative service ; voluntary effort has controlled the plan and the policy , including the detailed negotiations with manufacturers , bankers , insurance companies and the like , and all these bodies have made a generous contribution to a humane cause of powerful appeal .
Idiom: every last (used idiomatically: yes)
Clinton 's victory was all but assured by the youth vote . First - timers in their millions were backing the saxophone - playing candidate from the baby - boom years they could identify with . Hoarse but buoyant , Clinton had roared towards the end of a marathon tour of eight states yesterday pleading for every last vote . ‘ I have just about lost my voice,’ he told a largely working - class crowd at McAllen , Texas . ‘ In the voting booth,’ he said : ‘ If you will be my voice , I will speak for you for four years.’
Idiom: by heart (used idiomatically: yes)
there was rather a large congregation , and I was late , I found myself sitting more to the front than usual , in fact opposite the lectern . Incredibly the lesson was the parable of the Good Samaritan . From school I knew this parable by heart , and I think the reader must have known it too , because as he reached the concluding sentences , his frail hands were already feeling for the embroidered marker and preparing to close the great heavy book , so that his eyes were not on the page but were gazing unseeing into mine as he spoke the final well - worn words , ‘ Then said Jesus unto him , ‘ Go , and do thou likewise . ’’ That evening I wrote again to Mrs Girdlestone and said I would come and see how things were with my aunt , and if possible arrange for something to be done . The relief of having made a decision did not last .
Idiom: break someone's heart (used idiomatically: yes)
The diary will be published in Hawkins ' book Shelley 's First Love , the first exhaustive examination of the poet 's early life . Hawkins believes it will reinforce the growing view that Shelley , not Harriet , was the heartbreaker . ‘ Many scholars have suggested that she broke his heart by ending the relationship,’ Hawkins says from his home in Blandford , Dorset . ‘ But that is just rubbish . It was he who finished it .