Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: go bananas (used idiomatically: yes)
Sutton got the impression Pilger was ‘ going to really put me through it’ . He found him agitated and anxious and thumping the table , demanding to discuss the two men 's roles in relation to each other . Sutton says Pilger ‘ went bananas’ and kept repeating : ‘ Listen , cock ! Listen , cock!’ He strode round the room shouting : ‘ I am number one , cock .
Idiom: at a stretch (used idiomatically: yes)
Even though Owen was intelligent ( he could impress his teachers on occasions ) , he was generally regarded as a ‘ problem child’ with special needs . He slept very lightly ( awakening at the slightest sound ) and for no more than six hours a night ( if his parents were lucky ) . Most seven year olds sleep for about ten hours at a stretch . Bronwen explained that her son had been difficult from day one , crying most of the day and night , demanding constant attention . Needless to say , Bronwen and David were exhausted .
Idiom: come to grief (used idiomatically: yes)
The Dick Boolootian machines ( SM845 and TP298 ) were acquired by the David Tallichet organisation and placed under contract restoration in the US with an operation in Tulsa , Oklahoma . Although outwardly a lot of disassembly , cleaning , refurbishing and re - riveting was accomplished , it was to US spec rivets and fixings , largely unco - ordinated and more importantly , undocumented . The contract came to grief and the projects passed briefly through another restoration house , then into the Tallichet storage facility in Chino , California . A complex negotiation was made between the Davids Price and Tallichet for aircraft and services , the result in Spitfire terms would be that Tallichet would receive TP298 in flying trim and SM845 was free to float away if appropriate . In the event SM845 passed to Adrian Reynard and was shipped to the UK .
Idiom: in the black (used idiomatically: yes)
In a right old state I am an ex - pat living in the most unfriendly part of the most unfriendly state in the Union . The local farmers dress completely in black and drive horse - drawn buggies because the motor car is ' ungodly ' . It is only my subscription to Punch that stops me from taking a midnight walk off the roof . Keep up the good work .
Idiom: all over the place (used idiomatically: no)
Something of that order . Very easily , yes . And , and , and liquid nitrogen you 'll find in , in all walks of life , in hospitals all over the place that erm farmers now often have it in their farm , they , they That 's the sort of thing you use to burn warts off fingers and That sort of thing , that 's right .
Idiom: come full circle (used idiomatically: yes)
AN old friend came up in the street yesterday and said : ‘ My , you look well , have you been on holiday , you 've got a tan.’ What she saw was a ruddy face not associated with the effects of the sun , but it was still difficult to know whether to be flattered or annoyed . A manufacturer of sun care products has just issued a report showing that the view on tanning has come full circle . There has been , as it were , an about face . Years ago when nobody went abroad because nobody could , a tanned face was seen as the preserve of the hoi polloi , the grafters who had to work outside .
Idiom: in the pipeline (used idiomatically: yes)
The decision was reversed on appeal on the facts . In any event , it is still the wiser course for a comfort letter expressly to exclude legal liability if such is the intention . In the pipeline is a Draft Ninth Company Law Directive , which has not yet reached the stage of a formal proposal and indeed has not progressed since 1985 . In effect , it seeks to establish a formal group structure where an undertaking controls a public company ( whether or not its shares are listed ) even if that company is not its subsidiary ; an undertaking can be a person , firm or company . The suggested Directive 's objective is to protect minority shareholders against abuses of power by regulating the way in which the controlling undertaking exercises its dominant influence over the public company by interfering in its management .
Idiom: hit the ground running (used idiomatically: yes)
Over the past few months , the ground has has been prepared with meetings between senior Labour and Whitehall figures . They have been carried out under the ‘ Douglas - Home Rules’ , established by the former Prime Minister in the 1960s . Their purpose is to allow any new administration to ‘ hit the ground running’ , as one senior source put it . But , with the polls pointing to a hung Parliament , the Whitehall village of permanent civil servants is preparing itself for what one source described as the ‘ nightmare scenario’ of neither Mr Kinnock nor Mr Major having enough MPs to form a Government or to push a Queen 's Speech through the Commons on May 6 . Should the voters ' verdict prove inconclusive , Whitehall will find itself in a state of unwelcome limbo while politicians sort themselves out .
Idiom: all along (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Because it 's not what I did . I 'd never do a thing like that!’ ‘ I was right all along . The three of you are in it together . That 's why Jeff brought you to Sardinia in the first place!’
Idiom: in tandem (used idiomatically: yes)
The agreement , similar to one which President Alberto Keinya Fujimori had rejected in September 1990 [ see p.37708 ] , provided for US$ 34,900,000 in military equipment and training for the army and police force — the first such funding since the USA funded anti - guerrilla operations in 1965 — and $ 60,000,000 in economic aid ( expected to be increased in 1992 to $ 100,000,000 ) to assist coca growers to switch to other crops . Doubts about the military agreement centred on whether the army and the police could work together , given the traditional animosity between the two and pervasive drug - related corruption in both forces as a direct result of low pay . In addition a future crop substitution programme was expected to be seriously hampered by the July 6 murder of Walter Tocas , the leader of the Upper Huallaga Defence Front , a 150,000-strong organization of coca growers in the country 's principal coca growing region , by either drug traffickers or Shining Path ( Sendero Luminoso ) guerrillas , who were known to work in tandem in the region . Tocas had reportedly obtained the signed commitment of 40,000 growers to support a crop substitution programme . Army massacre
Idiom: set eyes on (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ We are determined not to let them ruin our motorcycling.’ TELEPHONE sweethearts Heather Shannon and Chris Fereday became man and wife at the weekend after a whirlwind romance started by chance . The couple fell in love before they had even set eyes on each other during a six - month long distance courtship . And just six hours after Chris and Heather met for the first time they had decided to get married . The romance started last year when computers at the Middlesbrough office of Pearl Assurance broke down .
Idiom: pick someone's brain (used idiomatically: yes)
You 'd start running out of prizes unless — too many people would be winning them.’ ‘ You are clearly a man with a wide experience of garden fêtes , Mr Gaily!’ said the Reverend George Jocelyn Bottingley . ‘ What a pity you are here only for the day — I could pick your brains very profitably.’ ‘ It 's only what anyone knows , really , you could n't say I 'd had exactly wide experience . No .
Idiom: on and off (used idiomatically: no)
No it does n't you run the top tap now in the kitchen , turn it off that will ignite and come on go and try it . Yeah but you the thermostat on your tank is telling should be telling that that you 've got a cold tank that 's what thermostat 's for . Well no because it 'll tha it does n't work like that it takes about cos it 's cold it 's gon na take about an hour to warm up and that wo n't come on that 'll just cu keep coming on and off all the time till it 's hottened up . Will it ? Yeah it wo n't I mean , that wo n't stay on for an hour I mean I 've literally had a hot bath put the water on , you know , af it goes off at nine o'clock in the morning put that radiator , put that button on to reset the hot water for five minutes it 's bo boilers lit up ten minutes and then it 's gone off
Idiom: hit the ground running (used idiomatically: no)
The 200 Marines found no resistance from local gunmen as they were dumped from 13 helicopters at the disused Beli Dogle airfield , 60 miles north - west of Mogadishu . Intruder jets from the aircraft carrier Ranger , and Cobra attack helicopters scoured the area for armed men . Marines hit the ground either running or flopping on to their stomachs at three points along the 10,000 ft runways as they took up positions . ' It 's about as benign as you can get , ' said Sergeant Dave Jamison of third platoon , Echo Company . ' That 's the way we like it .
Idiom: change hands (used idiomatically: yes)
Willis said it had not ‘ adjusted’ its stake and had ‘ talked to no one about it’ . Morgan declared : ‘ No discussions with any third party are in progress.’ Rumours that the Willis stake was about to change hands ahead of a bid have fuelled the progress . A variety of Continentals have been named as possible buyers . The latest favourite is Credit Suisse .
Idiom: throw someone to the wolves (used idiomatically: yes)
' Burn ' em , ' chipped in a Puritan . ' Too good for 'em , torture 'em first , ' said someone with an unhealthy imagination . ' Hang 'em , burn 'em , torture 'em , throw 'em to the wolves , cut off their ears and nail 'em to the notice board , ' shouted a particularly excited worshipper . ' I guess this Turhan Bey is n't a God of Peace , Forgiveness and Harmony then ? ' I said .
Idiom: fair game (used idiomatically: yes)
Well of course of course they do . It 's what our the Army 's all about . So if in any way you 're different , if you 're black or if you 're short or if in any way you 're different , you 're fair game for the bullies perhaps ? It 's not whether you 're black or white , it 's not whether you 're pink or green , it 's how you respond to orders . And how quickly you respond to orders situations .
Idiom: on the money (used idiomatically: yes)
Two cloudy glasses . Mellor hung on . But once Mona , daughter of the PLO 's chief fund-raiser , had admitted that he had enjoyed a summer holiday on her money at the time of the Gulf crisis , the gap-toothed Lothario was on his bike . No one had known until then that Mona had footed the bill for the Mellor family at the Marbella villa . But on the libel trial 's first day , from the witness box , 36-year-old Mona admitted without prodding that she indeed had shelled out .
Idiom: in cahoots (used idiomatically: yes)
We 'd like to apologise to Hugh Manson for any inconvenience this may have caused . BASIC INSTINCT ‘ The Urge’ is an unusual new bass designed by the Fender Custom Shop in cahoots with Satriani 's old buddy Stu Hamm . It boasts a well - rounded alder body , a two - octave maple neck with a Pau Ferro fingerboard , and no less than three pickups : a custom vintage J - bass by the neck , a custom ‘ 62 vintage P - bass in the middle and an extra - hot J - bass unit by the bridge . These are linked up to some rather clever controls : two concentric pots ( one for master volume and pan pickup selector , the other for active treble boost / cut and active bass boost / cut ) , one four - position rotary switch offering ‘ off’ , active with mid - boost , active , and passive with the bass boost / cut becoming a master tone control , and a mini - switch that allows you to add the P - bass pickup to any switching combination .
Idiom: ride high (used idiomatically: no)
But I doubt if she had as much fun . There was she , a horse loving woman , bumping through the Siq in a Land Rover , wearing a skirt and hat . Whereas touristy me — town - bred and with no more knowledge of nags than a few donkey - rides sixty years ago — I rode high and proud on Suzy , a two - year - old Arab who was full of wind and nervous at moving so slowly . Holding my back straight and clutching the plaited strings that had once been reins , I felt as intrepid as Stark , as hardened as Lawrence , as much the explorer as Burckhardt . I was there — at last !
Idiom: at your fingertips (used idiomatically: yes)
For further details Freephone our Satellite Hotline on 0800 622975 or call into your local Radio Rentals shop . The Move Channel will be scrambled from 6.00pm midweek and from 4.00pm at weekends . More choice at your fingertips … THE radio RENTALS SAINT & GREAVSIE SHOW ‘ Hey Greavsie …
Idiom: old hat (used idiomatically: yes)
The attendant was short , about half the height of either of the two humans . It was dressed in a sort of grubby grey cassock knotted with red string at the waist . The cassock had a thin hood , held in place over the attendant 's head and face by what looked like the brim from an old and worn red hat ; it was squeezed down over the attendant 's head , the top of the hood showing through where the hat 's crown should have been . The attendant 's face was hidden by a papier mâché mask , as worn by all the attendants and waiters . The mask was set in an expression of abject sadness .
Idiom: make or break (used idiomatically: yes)
We have already received two ideas , which might prove useful in the workshop . A widely used method of temperature control , writes Peter Rowe of Reading , employs two strips of metal of differing coefficient of thermal expansion , which are welded together lengthways . Differential expansion with increasing temperature causes the compound rod to bend and make or break electrical contact . The same principle can be used to make a moisture meter from wooded strips . Glue together lengthways two strips of regular grained hardwood , one with grain running along the length as normal , and the other , cut from the end of a wide board , with grain running across .
Idiom: take the fifth (used idiomatically: yes)
But he had remembered — the name and all that went with it . Heather had been this way before him , had seen and understood what he would shortly see and might yet understand . There was not a doubt in his mind as to where she had taken the fifth picture on the film . Breakspear was both more venerable and less ostentatious than most colleges . Its low - arched entrance off one of the narrow lanes linking High Street and Broad Street could easily have been overlooked had Harry not been intent on locating it .
Idiom: name names (used idiomatically: no)
as far as the committee was concerned there is they 've taken a decision on the preferred route , but we did as I 've just referred to in the earlier work , er we did assess that erm and that showed again er that the traffic would n't transfer from the A sixty one onto a southern bypass and a inner northern relief road . I 'd just like to comment on this this matter Name name please . Speaking this time for Residents ' Association . I 'd like to comment on this matter of the relationship between the western relief road and a possible inner northern relief road .
Idiom: nuts and bolts (used idiomatically: no)
Nobody questioned her right to flaunt her way of life . She was a profession celebrity — one of the last to flourish without benefit of television . Then the Birmingham Small Arms Company revealed after many a summer that the car she sat in like a burnished throne , and even some of the furs she wore , were not provided by her Prince Charming , Sir Bernard , but by them , the nuts and bolts firm of which he was chairman , as a business expense which they were no longer happy to provide . That took the gilt off the gingerbread and the Daimler bumpers . Sir Bernard was ousted as chairman .
Idiom: licence to print money (used idiomatically: yes)
Sue Heal NOT since the heady days of Shirley Temple tapping her dinky way around the globe has a pint - sized child star held the Hollywood moguls in such thrall . Macaulay Culkin is a 12-year - old , 4 ft 6 in licence to print money and Home Alone 2 : Lost In New York is set to pull in more folding bills than it is possible for the human mind to contemplate . Once more , as young Kevin McCallister , he is cut loose from the constraints of his frantic , harassed family . They catch a plane to Florida but Kevin winds up in New York where he is fancy free with his Pop 's credit card , eating all the ice cream and pizza the metropolis has to offer .
Idiom: on the run (used idiomatically: no)
CHECK the castle is moored securely to the ground and never use it in high winds or wet weather as they have been known to slip over and wet slippery surfaces can be dangerous . Out to prove his guilt ON THE RUN TO FREE AN INNOCENT MAN IN JAIL PAUL FOOT I'VE heard of prisoners going on the run to prove their innocence , but here 's a prisoner who says he 's on the run to prove his GUILT .
Idiom: go straight (used idiomatically: yes)
set at half past two Yeah so and not only that if Gary meets me up the train station we can go straight into town on our own , leave him with Pat . That 's it yeah , it 's not very easy walking around looking at things when you 've got the kids tagging along with you And man all
Idiom: heart of gold (used idiomatically: yes)
Getting Nails into the team did not make him any nicer . It was as if by revealing a hint of softness to Nutty , knowing that she suspected him of acquiescing in order to save Firelight from the chop , a girlish affection betrayed , he then behaved more churlishly than ever to make up for it . Nutty had hoped that underneath his Nailsishness there lay a heart of gold , but if there did he took care not to reveal it . It shook Nutty , for the fact that he adored Firelight surely meant that he must be nicer than he seemed ? It was an obvious consequence .
Idiom: take it easy (used idiomatically: yes)
But that did n't trouble me . I always enjoy the restful times of interstellar travel . I can take it easy , relax a with the galacvid — which is networked through the sentient worlds along another form of call - beam following the GalacNet lines . But on the journey to Vadinamia I also spent some time giving a little thought to security . It 's a problem people are always thinking about , but never wholly solve .
Idiom: give head (used idiomatically: no)
' You can kick the ball with your feet , or if you miss , that beetch will kick it for you . ' Unnerved by Alejandro 's great roar of laughter , Maldita had taken off into the pampas , somehow miraculously missing rabbit holes and fallen logs as she hurtled along . Luke sat still and gave her her head , amazed that the more she warmed up , the faster she went , staggered by the distance she could carry his 190-pound bulk in the burning sun . After nearly four miles she ran into the river that bordered Alejandro 's land , which was so deep she was forced to swim . On the opposite bank , Luke rolled off her back and lay on the grass .
Idiom: fair game (used idiomatically: yes)
Nobody understands us : we do n't even understand ourselves . But we are fascinated by ourselves — which is why Jane 's thoughts rabbited on so long about her country . After the glimpse of Scandinavia through Riborg , and later the experience of Hungary , Jane was so far carried away by her enthusiasm for classless freedom , the beauty of northern landscapes , plus the humorous awareness of the central European people , that when a Finn crossed her path , she was fair game . A Finn represented the fusion of Scandinavia and Hungary ( to which country they were first cousins ) so no doubt she expected too much of Erkki . Anyway , he looked like an ageing Nordic god .
Idiom: to boot (used idiomatically: yes)
Infectious . ‘ And if we remain stationary much longer the whole village will have it as fact . Married off and with a couple of babies to boot . And the terrible thing is , the thought does n't fill me with horror at all.’ His face still creased in amusement , he turned on the engine and set the de - mister working .
Idiom: rough and ready (used idiomatically: yes)
This , combined with the previous episode , created suspicion that he had been malingering to avoid going into action and resulted in his being charged with cowardice . The charges were eventually dropped after an investigation , but had he stayed with the Scots Guards his career would inevitably have been wrecked . The 24-year - old David Stirling was no rough and ready brawling cut - throat though , in spite of his thirst for coming to grips with the enemy . Always immaculately dressed , he was remembered for his invariable courtesy and charm as he moved through the hotel bars and restaurants of cosmopolitan wartime Cairo . His height he tended to disguise with a slight stoop , and he made no secret of his contempt for the desk - bound staffs who had mushroomed far behind the lines .
Idiom: like the clappers (used idiomatically: no)
No longer do we expect the penis to be a magical instrument that stands upright on demand , throbs and pulsates all night with the strength of 10,000 men , and immediately regains its firmness just seconds after ejaculation . However , almost as soon as we 've come to terms with its limitations , the penis decides to create a whole new set of trails and tribulations for its owner . As we move into our twenties and thirties , hormones are no longer racing through the body like the clappers and , from time to time , the penis is more likely to cause embarrassment by its lack of activity than by its exuberance . On occasion , it might refuse to work at all and we find ourselves longing for the days of youth when it would stand at attention regardless of any identifiable sexual stimulus . There you are , trembling and writhing with lust , feeling passion in every corpuscle , and the penis is snoring away regardless , leaving you in a state of mortal terror , wondering whether it will every work again without the assistance of a rope and pulley .
Idiom: spit blood (used idiomatically: yes)
inquiring between their boots — public men , spitting blood in crumpled handkerchiefs , twisting fingers against brittle years . But rising as his star was , there was one aspect to Leonard 's poetry which was encouraged by Layton and discouraged by Dudek .
Idiom: spend a penny (used idiomatically: yes)
Now she had done what putting thousands of leaflets through letterboxes , what advertising by advertising space in newspapers and so forth could n't possibly have done , and she 'd done it free . And she got it . She claims she 's never spent a penny on advertising ever since . And yet she has one of the highest profiles imaginable , because she recognizes what she is doing , in a variety of ways , and the media - worthy nature of this , and she feeds the media with all sorts of stories , all sorts of angles , all sorts of aspects , which actually help her cause . And they lap it up .
Idiom: come to grips with (used idiomatically: yes)
New urban measures At a Cabinet meeting on March 13 the new Minister of State for Towns , Michel Delebarre , announced measures to deal with problems of deprivation and racial ghettos in urban areas . President François Mitterrand had warned in December following the most recent city riots [ see p. 37869]that modern socialism had to come to grips with the management of urban society , and the worst affected local authorities had complained that they lacked resources and bore a heavy burden compared with more affluent areas . Under the legislation on " solidarity between communities " , F900 million of the current figure of F72,000 million in annual central government subsidies to local authorities would be redistributed from affluent towns to 400 poor ones , this amount rising to F1,500 million in 1993 . An additional " solidarity tax " was to be raised in Paris and the surrounding Ile de France region where the social imbalance was greatest , and Paris itself would be hit the hardest financially .