Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: up in the air (used idiomatically: yes)
Oh no I 'm not cold in here . I mean it 's cold and he 's up in the air , like this nanny Mm . and he and he lands on the metal chair .
Idiom: birds of a feather (used idiomatically: yes)
That was Friday . Sunday is n't it ? birds of a feather are n't they really ? I used to get down the pub on a Friday lunch time absolutely . Hope she comes
Idiom: pass muster (used idiomatically: yes)
For four compelling reasons , the US and its allies should keep the door open to dialogue until the eleventh hour . First , tighter sanctions make sense only as a diplomatic tool , not as a blunt instrument of coercion . The new sanctions simply are not severe enough to intimidate Iran into submission , and more restrictive ones would not pass muster within the Security ~ Council . Accordingly , if tougher sanctions prove to be useful , they will do so by confronting Iran with a united diplomatic front , thereby encouraging its government to make a deal in order to end the country ’s isolation .
Idiom: rise from the ashes (used idiomatically: yes)
AMERICAN SURVEY Phoenix Rising from Kuwait 's ashes PHOENIX , ARIZONA FIVE years ago the only things that Phoenix and Kuwait city had in common were a desert setting and an urban landscape of glittering modern buildings .
Idiom: walk of life (used idiomatically: yes)
Sweeney points to the stressful nature of the job : ‘ Prison officers used to join from the Forces,’ he says . ‘ I was a ship 's cook in the Merchant Navy and used to handling men . But now prison officers are taken from all walks of life.’ In case of trouble when handling prisoners , alarms are positioned at strategic points around the prison . Within one minute of being triggered , the alarm summons about 50 staff to the problem spot .
Idiom: bottom drawer (used idiomatically: yes)
Look . Wonderful ! Now the bottom drawer over there , you can put my jumper in . No the bottom drawer look ! That 's for things like this , I put these in there .
Idiom: in a fog (used idiomatically: yes)
' Was there any money in it , or have n't you looked yet ? ' ' Mister , you 're givin ' me a hard time , you are , and just when I 'm thinking I 've met a real gent for a change . Mind , I hardly know how to get a proper look at you in all this fog . ' But snug in his arms and very close to him , she could at least see his looks were n't villainous . She sighed .
Idiom: go round in circles (used idiomatically: no)
The latter alternative is preferable since it is more likely to be seen as constructive and thus win support ( see Building on page 25 ) . However , both tactics are ways of using other people 's ideas as a stimulus for producing ideas yourself . Idea - having is the best antidote to the common problem of going round in circles ( see Going round in circles on page 76 ) . Inadequacy Inadequacy is an unwanted feeling that frequently spills over into behaviour .
Idiom: get off the ground (used idiomatically: yes)
I do n't think it should cause you any problems , but it is something that 's come on late erm as a result of maternity cover . Right . Ian Waterhouse is with us , probably wondering how on earth these meetings get off the ground at all . Ian , you 're the community services manager . We have a paper from you on , can we settle down a bit .
Idiom: in this day and age (used idiomatically: yes)
No one that no one 'll visit you . So you have to keep spending your money to go and visit them . And yet you know you think families'd stick together in this day and age . You know like if you go and visit them sometimes they come down and visit you , but they do n't . Cos they 're frightened of coming down here .
Idiom: read between the lines (used idiomatically: yes)
But friends continued to die : Jo Schlesser at Rouen a few months later . ' I suppose that I was still naive and intoxicated by the candyfloss world that racing can seem to be . ' What one can read between the lines was that Jackie was n't yet a champion , that he knew he was good enough to be one and that the pressures and opportunities to make money were too good to be passed up . In 1969 , he won his first championship . Retire ?
Idiom: beg the question (used idiomatically: yes)
It is natural to borrow such words as " reproduce " and " generation " , which have associations with living things , because living things are the main examples we know of things that participate in cumulative selection . They may in practice be the only things that do . But for the moment I do n't want to beg that question by saying so outright . Sometimes clouds , through the random kneading and carving of the winds , come to look like familiar objects . There is a much published photograph , taken by the pilot of a small aeroplane , of what looks a bit like the face of Jesus , staring out of the sky .
Idiom: marching orders (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ You do n't have to go.’ ‘ Oh yes I do , dear,’ Nanny answered grimly . ‘ I 've been given my marching orders . The new broom is sweeping very clean.’ Artemis realized this was a reference to her new stepmother , but she preferred to try and keep dropping her gathered pebbles into the centre of the splash made by the last one she had dropped .
Idiom: by the book (used idiomatically: no)
The idiomatic phrases , the stereotyped utterances , the patterns of speech themselves actively contribute to a world where women are the different sex , the defined sex . What we have is an excess of definitions around the feminine whereas men are the undefined norm . There is a school of thought ( embodied by Dale Spender 's book Man - Made Language ) that says we can think of language itself as being ' male ' . Dale Spender describes the tendency to refer to the male as the norm and women in pejorative terms as a ' rule ' of language ; she use the term ' sexist syntax'to describe this . She also uses studies of women 's habits of speech to suggest that women use a slightly different language .
Idiom: new blood (used idiomatically: yes)
How could she have thought that he would ? Something unforeseen and urgent had happened , since Sean had obviously known of it yesterday afternoon , and there had been no opportunity for him to inform her . Relief surged through her like a physical infusion of new blood . ‘ I 've changed my mind,’ she said . ‘ I would like some breakfast .
Idiom: take a leaf out of someone's book (used idiomatically: yes)
Pricing and availability for the Hewlett - Packard , Sun Microsystems and Silicon Graphics workstations will be set later on this year , the company said . SPARC INTERNATIONAL AIMS FOR SHRINK - WRAPPED SOFTWARE Sparc International is taking a leaf out of 88open ' s book by trying to create a class of shrinkwrapped software that will run on all Sparc machines everywhere regardless of architectural distinctions . The long - overdue effort will seek to propagate the newly cast SCD 2.0 as the specification software houses and end users write to . SI has packaged SCD 2.0 along with a mass of documentation , tools and white papers on a CD - ROM labelled Developer 's ToolChest .
Idiom: fall into place (used idiomatically: yes)
Such a nostalgic obsession with the past was a natural outcome of the chair - bound anthropologist 's myopic glance . Once you abandoned the theorist 's armchair and his gloomy study and actually got out there among living tribesmen , then and only then could you really understand what was going on . With this fresh perspective exotic rituals which made no sense in the silence of the scholar 's study except as echoes of past glories fell into their natural place as living parts of the throbbing actuality of real flesh - and - blood communal life . Redundant customs had no place in Malinowski 's view of the world . There everything was , as the modern phrase has it , ' all go ' .
Idiom: fall from grace (used idiomatically: yes)
Criticism of alleged ‘ foreign interference’ by Western embassies and news organisations in Burmese affairs has also been stepped up by the military . Brigadier - General Tin Oo was unexpectedly released from Insein jail last week , after nearly seven years . He was head of the Military Intelligence Service ( MIS ) until his fall from grace in 1983 , when it was thought that Ne Win , Burma 's autocratic ruler since 1962 , perceived him as a threat to his leadership . The MIS , with its vast network of informers , was designed by General Ne Win to consolidate his hold on power . Diplomats think that by releasing General Tin Oo now , General Ne Win may be trying to counter the growing power of the MIS head , Khin Nyunt .
Idiom: high and dry (used idiomatically: yes)
Chapter Five BROTHER CADFAEL had made one journey to the hamlet of Preston in search of the young man Aldhelm , only to find that he was away in the riverside fields of the manor of Upton , busy with the lambing , for the season had been complicated by having to retrieve some of the ewes in haste from the rising water , and the shepherds were working all the hours of the day . On his second attempt , Cadfael made straight for Upton to enquire where their younger shepherd was to be found , and set out stoutly to tramp the further mile to a fold high and dry above the water - meadows . Aldhelm got up from the turf on which a new and unsteady lamb was also trying to get to its feet , nuzzled by the quivering ewe . The shepherd was a loose - limbed fellow all elbows and knees , but quick and deft in movement for all that .
Idiom: in the black (used idiomatically: yes)
Scotland . They went up to Scotland for your christening , ' eighty - three , it must have been no ' eighty - four , and when they came down south again , they came to my office and the wills were drawn up . ' He looked round the drawing - room , at the pictures and looking - glasses and ornaments shrouded in black , at Alexandra herself in the first mourning dress she had ever had . ' Stay here , will you , Miss Abbott ? Comfortable house . '
Idiom: on the square (used idiomatically: yes)
Mr Wang was a top student leader of the 1989 demonstrations that saw more than a million people take to the streets calling for more democracy and demanding the end of corruption and special privileges for officials . Mr Guo , who like Mr Wang was a Beijing University student , was once chairman of the Beijing Students Autonomous Federation , one of the main groups orchestrating the protests that took over central Beijing 's vast Tiananmen Square , the symbol of Communist Party power . The demonstrations , which began with the death of a former Communist Party leader on 15 April , 1989 , ended with an army assault on Tiananmen Square on 4 June that killed hundreds of people . — Reuter and AP Reunited : Wang Dan at home yesterday with his mother , Wang Linyun , sister Wang Jinging and nephew Chen Tian , after his release from prison in Beijing
Idiom: by the book (used idiomatically: no)
Tuesday 30 January — Saturday 3 February Evenings 8 pm , Saturday Matinee 4.30pm MAIN HOUSE Century Theatre present Music by Marguerite Monnot Book & Lyrics by Julian More , David Heneker & Monty Norman ( based on the original French by Alexander Breffort ) IRMA LA DOUCE This powerful musical brilliantly captures the seedy sub - culture of a bygone Paris .
Idiom: odds and ends (used idiomatically: yes)
You can shoot the material in any order , the edited movie can be built up from the best parts of the recording , and the overall shape of the movie can be finally determined when the material to be retained is known . If this is to be your approach see pages 87–92 for the actual process of post - production editing . Whichever way you decide to produce your holiday movie you still need some kind of broad action - plan in your mind ; without this , you will inevitably find that you have filled the tape with a lot of unrelated odds and ends . Remember : think in sequences ( see Chapter 5 ) . Although this comes more naturally if the shots are primarily of human activity , it is equally true if the emphasis is on places rather than people .
Idiom: to the letter (used idiomatically: yes)
Tory - controlled Westminster City Council lays down strict rules for elected persons . Page 30 of the Members ' Manual says that it is not ' appropriate for council stationery or postal facilities to be used to indicate the party allegiance of any member or group ' . So , when Councillor Peter Bradley replied to a letter from a resident he was careful to describe himself only as a member of ' the minority party ' . She wrote straight back , asking ' Which one ? ' His response : ' You may not believe this but I 'm not allowed to tell you on council notepaper . '
Idiom: back to square one (used idiomatically: yes)
Nothing . Kate Burrows and Kenneth Caitlin were getting worried . If something did n't break , and soon , they would be back to square one . Frogmen had dragged the local river . Every shed and garage and outbuilding had been searched .
Idiom: hate someone's guts (used idiomatically: yes)
If she can talk to anybody , that is . — And I 'll be going round , of course . They 'll let me in . — I 've been doing for her for years.’ ‘ Yes , and she hated your guts!’ thought Marie . But she could scarcely control the quivering of her lower lip . And the home - help went off , pushing her bike , rehearsing her story in her head , improving it , adding a little detail here and there .
Idiom: in business (used idiomatically: yes)
' I 've no idea . But just remember that Martinez has his fingers in every pie in golf . I admit that he 's a brilliant businessman , but I just wish he was n't in my business . As soon as one of my clients looks like winning anything important , he 's after him . ' All I can say , Chris , is that he took Harley on because he knew he could get him a good contract . '
Idiom: pull the plug (used idiomatically: yes)
It is a pity that our share of the glory at CERN — Britain pays a lot of money into this uniquely successful collaboration each year — is marred by European complaints that this country is not pulling its weight in international projects , such as nuclear safety research ( see opposite ) or fusion . THIS WEEK Britain pulls plug on PWR safety research THE BRITISH government has decided to pull the plug on a European investigation into what happens when a pressurised - water reactor goes badly wrong . Ministers have taken the decision despite warnings from some civil servants that their failure to fund research into nuclear safety could backfire on them at the Sizewell public inquiry now under way in Suffolk .
Idiom: down the road (used idiomatically: yes)
The fiscal deficit was equivalent to 3 % of GDP in 2009 , which generated 3 % GDP growth , while the deficit in 2008 was literally zero . The country ’s so - called “ moderate relax ” monetary policy also played its part by allowing bank lending to expand by almost 34 % in 2009 , with M2 money supply growing by 27 % . Monetary growth may increase inflationary pressures and the risk of an asset bubble down the road , but it helped ensure that China ’s economy did not fall into a vicious downturn when the financial crisis hit . Other policy moves aimed at boosting demand in the housing and auto market also proved effective . But China ’s crisis management is only part of the story .
Idiom: at the crossroads (used idiomatically: no)
Those were the figures which he aggregated to produce a total of over one point two million pounds . For the first period he took as his starting point a figure of twenty thousand three hundred and seventy eight pounds to cover the parents involved . To that we added a night keeper and relief , brackets B two six four close brackets , and an allowance for physical help during the day charged at the crossroads rate which brought the total up to thirty three thousand five hundred and twenty eight pounds and twenty pence . That figure multiplied by eight for the first period gave a total of two hundred and sixty eight thousand two hundred and twenty four pounds . It was thus that he arrived at his figure of six hundred and twenty thousand three hundred and thirty one pounds to the overall cost of future care in this case .
Idiom: to a nicety (used idiomatically: no)
His shoes had left dirt marks across the carpet . What could I say to him , my oldest friend ? Archie was n't used to the niceties of civilised living . He had given them up long ago . I poured him a glass of the special malt which I kept for the rare occasions of celebration or consolation in my life .
Idiom: cramp someone's style (used idiomatically: yes)
No , the trouble is , apparently , that Tod ca n't feel , wo n't connect , never opens up , always holds something back . What Trudy and Juanita and the rest of them are trying to say , it seems to me , is that Tod gives them the creeps . But whatever it is , whatever it is they 're saying or trying to say , it never cramps Tod 's style . He likes to make love in the deathly hour of dusk . He wo n't let them sleep over - another much - discussed shortcoming .
Idiom: big hitter (used idiomatically: no)
The current holders of the other two majors , Bernhard Langer and Nick Price , are also bracketed . Langer is hoping to add a third major to his collection after winning at Augusta while Price , the US PGA champion , and recent Memorial Tournament winner , Paul Azinger , complete a high - powered threeball . A confrontation between two of the game 's biggest hitters is assured when Ian Woosnam pipped in a play - off for the Honda Open sets off in the company of the awesome former US PGA champion John Daly and another top performer , Payne Stewart . Stewart is aiming to return to the winner 's enclosure after a blank spell following his success over Scott Simpson in a play - off for the 1991 US Open . Nomads star in pledge of loyalty
Idiom: take someone to the cleaners (used idiomatically: yes)
Unlike Britain , they put national industrial supremacy first and foremost . European interests were secondary to national objectives , except where European political unity carried more clout in the international political scene . The British had been taken to the cleaners because foolish politicians in post - war Britain had elected to produce sociologists instead of engineers , and the predictable end result was that Britain had been short on wealth creators and long on spenders . The creative and talented nation that gave birth to the Industrial Revolution and produced more inventions and patents per head of population than any other country in the world , had turned its back on industry and commerce . Mark felt bitter and sad .
Idiom: long in the tooth (used idiomatically: yes)
Of the very few banners that mentioned it , one from Moscow University called pointedly for ‘ a faster rate of democratisation of the party’ . As for the military parade , it was even more modest than last year . In an evident effort to convince the West once again that military might is not what the Soviet Union is all about , the imposing array of missiles , rocket - launchers , self - propelled guns , and armoured vehicles were all ‘ long in the tooth,’ according to a Western diplomatic source . All the same , the military parade was the best of the show , with thousands of troops goose - stepping past the mausoleum , massed bands marching and counter - marching as they played , but then drowned out by the roar of armoured hardware . And when Red Square echoed and re - echoed to the boom of a 21-gun salute as 800 bandsmen played the national anthem , the ghosts of the Tsars in the Kremlin could have recognised the Russia they lost .
Idiom: split hairs (used idiomatically: yes)
The cab could have been anywhere . Like in an alleyway , maybe . But I do n't want to split hairs . I passed the cup across my office desk , just to make my present location clear . The guy in the black leather took it in both hands .
Idiom: play to the gallery (used idiomatically: yes)
Policy debates in the US are chiefly preoccupied with ensuring that banks are never " too big to fail ; that private investors rather than taxpayers hold " contingent capital , " which in a crash can be converted into equity ; and that " over - the - counter " markets ' functioning be improved through greater reliance on centralized trading , clearing , and settlements . The chief point of intersection between the European and US approaches is major banks . This convergence has less to do with regulatory thinking on bank size or function than with a common need to play to the political gallery and raise more tax revenue . Banks ' balance sheets are systemically dangerous when bloated by leverage , and it is this that regulatory or fiscal policy should address through liquidity buffers and leverage ratios . After all , it is the contagiousness of financial crises , not banks ' size , that matters .
Idiom: to the bone (used idiomatically: no)
Computers are like a foreign country in many ways . They have their own language and customs , laws about what you can and can not do , and you have to fit into that society . GUIs provide the padding to the bare bones of the system . You do n't have to learn the phrase to make a particular program work , you simply click on its picture . GUIs also force the people who produce the packages to act in a certain way .
Idiom: serve someone right (used idiomatically: yes)
I could say some of the things I had n't been able to say when I left him , because I had n't shared his feelings then . But I remembered I 'd told him to go to bed ; he 'd be asleep by now . Well , it served me right . He 'd had to go through that wrench of premature separation alone ; now I had to . It was only fair .
Idiom: around the clock (used idiomatically: yes)
But Alan Brazier , head chef of Westminster 's QEII Centre catering operation , took even normal levels to new extremes during last week 's G7 economic summit . Over the summit 's four days the centre was home to 4,000 journalists and media staff , who were served more than 42,000 meals . Mr Brazier and his senior staff , including deputy head chef Kevin Glasby ( above ) and senior sous chef Nick Bryan , worked virtually around the clock , pausing only for three hours sleep before starting again at 5 am . But Mr Brazier gave an unhesitating ‘ yes’ when asked if he would go through the experience again . Media folk munched their way through £ 100,000-worth of food , including 940 lb of smoked salmon , 5,000 lb of cheese , 1,300 lb of beef rib , 17,280 eggs and 16 gallons of baby squid and octopus .
Idiom: in the long term (used idiomatically: yes)
The problem is n't met by having an extra pound in their pockets through tax cuts . It 's getting real order books . In the long term , Britain has to come into the next century with a partnership in Europe . Voice over The election is also giving a green light for policies about the environment .
Idiom: spit blood (used idiomatically: no)
Very nice , ' he said , ' I enjoyed that . ' Then he swung his right again , hard into the loose mouth . Kress fell to the ground , spitting blood from a badly split lip . I did n't try to stop Connors . It was none of my business , and I knew he could still feel the cold stone of that floor at the hotel while death hammered insistently just above his head .
Idiom: pissed off (used idiomatically: yes)
In the hall . They 're all in the hall . He 's gon na get well pissed off ! Yeah . Yeah .
Idiom: to the letter (used idiomatically: yes)
Dear Ms MacPherson OALDCE 3/e Electronic Further to my letter of yesterday , I now am able to send you your copy of the OALDCE 3/e Electronic computer tape , which has been prepared to your specifications . Also enclosed is a copy of the Handbook which explains the tape 's contents , briefly describes uses and includes the PAT User Guide . Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries or concerns with either the tape or the Handbook .
Idiom: turn the corner (used idiomatically: yes)
Well before you went Yes straight in , as you turn the corner you went straight into it and it was all in that building and that end Oh well they 've cut it down then ai n't they ? Oh they have yeah