Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: steal the show (used idiomatically: yes)
Obviously it was very much an ad hoc programme , with none of the smaller aircraft being able to get airborne and some aircraft from elsewhere being prevented fro leaving their home bases . Nevertheless , a creditable show was put on for the public , which in true GWAD fashion , stood their ground despite what the elements threw at them . Stealing the show on Sunday ( the 40th anniversary of the prototype Vulcan VX770 's first flight ) and Monday was Vulcan B.2 XH558 , which put on a stupendous display , and quite rightly was awarded the trophy for the most meritorious display . The following day saw a remarkable change in the weather , the wind had dropped considerably , blue skies , and sunshine reigned supreme and it was all systems go for a cracking airshow . Visiting aircraft began arriving early in the day and by the time the airshow started at midday quite a line - up of visiting types were present , ranging from award - winning Percival Vega Gull G – AEZJ to Duncan Baker 's Howard 500 N500LN , the latter making a very rare appearance away from its Exeter base .
Idiom: to say the least (used idiomatically: yes)
Yes , fine , I just asked , just checking . Are there items that people , I mean , I take the point about freezing C O 2 emissions . That 's woolly to say the least . We may want to make the point that if we are to be committed to doing something about the global warming of the ozone layer then we will need to say when we will do it by . And ensure there 's a programme which achieves that .
Idiom: off the shelf (used idiomatically: yes)
Its origins were as a ‘ nannying’ organisation formed rapidly to ensure that UK companies were aware of the opportunities presented by North Sea developments . It also had to tackle the challenge of ensuring international oil operators knew of the capabilities of local suppliers . In the early days of North Sea exploration , it was not unknown for project teams to phone Houston , Texas , for a box of bolts which could have been bought off the shelf at an ironmongers in Aberdeen . Mr d'Ancona recalls : ‘ OSO started with the simple remit of cutting the umbilical cord which linked US oil companies with their established suppliers in the Gulf of Mexico , who were for the most part American.’ In fact , multinational oil companies working in the North Sea had little choice but to be receptive to the attempts to maximise the spin - off for UK industry if they wanted to stay in good standing with the Government when applications were being considered for exploration licences .
Idiom: on the ball (used idiomatically: yes)
Polworth sheep , a crossbreed from the famous Merino which originated in Australia , are now bred in the pure environment of the Falkland Isles , where they mature to produce superb heavy fleeces . These fleeces are turned into fine , lustrous wool which is left unbleached in its natural colour and has a lovely soft quality to touch and wear . Although processed on the Islands , the yarn is exported on 50 gram balls and is now available in the UK by mail order . Lace Technique A comprehensive and fully illustrated hard back book on ' The Technique of Lace'takes a look at a wide variety of lace patterns and designs which can be knitted on the Japanese knitting machines .
Idiom: out of sight (used idiomatically: yes)
The interest is derived not so much from what the company achieved over the past 12 months , as for one small omission . Undoubtedly conscious of the impact Lord Hanson 's 2.8pc stake in ICI has had on the company during the year the authors felt better advised to leave out any mention of the of m'lords takeover intentions of the company . Out of sight , out of mind , perhaps ? Over size bed VAUX chairman Paul Nicholson has always had a larger than life attitude to the manner in which he conducts his business .
Idiom: out of line (used idiomatically: yes)
Clem Attlee nationalised the Bank of England because he did not think that we should have rule by central bankers . The other idea is that we should have a single currency . If there is a single currency and economies get out of line , they can not be adjusted by movements of the exchange rate , which is the normal way — so what happens ? Countries will become blighted and depressed regions , with mass unemployment . I did not become a Labour Member of Parliament or the Chairman of the Select Committee on Employment to work for policies that would lead to chronic mass unemployment .
Idiom: word of mouth (used idiomatically: yes)
We must now consider more closely the pope 's relationship with the law and where Innocent stands in its development . It was firmly established from the time of Gregory VII that the pope had the exclusive power to issue new law in case of necessity ( Dictatus Pape c.7)— to put forward new decrees and remedies against new excesses and to dispense from or mitigate the law in some cases . From this grew the notion that the pope had the power not simply to explain and interpret the law , but to make it , whether by word of mouth in councils or by letter . Here the pope had the advantage over the emperor for , with the removal of the empire to the West , Roman law ceased to be declared and the Roman law dried up as a living law . Canon law , on the other hand , was the clay with which the pope could mould society .
Idiom: to the tune of (used idiomatically: yes)
And how many of the families of those at Peel Park have seen the equipment which earns all our wages ? Long walk pays off Dr Barnardo 's benefited to the tune of £ 260 recently after Torness clerical assistant Murray Brunton , Peter Cotton from Information Systems and Ian Kilpatrick from Ops , walked through Lairig Ghru in the Cairngorms . ‘ We started from the Linn O'Dee and took 7.5 hours to walk the 20 miles through the mountains to Coylumbridge,’ said Murray . ‘ It was much easier than I 'd expected though we had very good weather , sunny and dry all the way .
Idiom: by no stretch of the imagination (used idiomatically: yes)
George Bush appointed Justice Souter , to political conservatives ' dismay , in the summer of 1990 , in that short period when it looked as if he might be a great president . The appointment was Mr Bush 's finest domestic achievement : listening to Justice Souter grill a lawyer before the court is now one of the great treats of Washington . But in David Souter 's court — and by no stretch of the imagination is this William Rehnquist 's court — whoever replaces Byron White will have little choice but to be a judge first , and a politician a very distant second . The man who wanted to fly WASHINGTON , DC
Idiom: plain Jane (used idiomatically: no)
If I do n't like the neck profile , for instance , then fine : if Moon were building one specifically for my own use , I could have whatever profile I wanted . Also , the guitar has no official model name or number . ‘ Double Cutaway’ sounds a little plain Jane , but the owner could of course christen it with whatever apt title came to mind . The body on the Moon is made from mahogany , with a birdseye maple top . Unfortunately , the red lacquer is slightly too opaque to do the maple much justice .
Idiom: in bed with (used idiomatically: yes)
In this example it is impossible to punish Joanne by removing a rewarding event or object — she has already ‘ removed’ her food and plate ! Thus she has to be removed ( time out ) from the pleasant situation of being with her family . In this example Robert is being removed from a highly specific type of reward — the pleasure of being in bed with his mum and dad . The punisher used here is designed to extinguish the undesirable behaviour . The most common example of time out has been used by generations of parents .
Idiom: on the make (used idiomatically: no)
Henning Albrechsten reckons that it takes three years for a telecottage to be able to function without subsidy . In Scandinavia , with their mixed economies , money is always available , after a bit of persuasion , from both local and central government . In Britain , the tight financial regime imposed on local councils and the reluctance of central government to take on any new expenditure makes it necessary to seek funds from the private sector . The only government support so far has been a recommendation by the Rural Development Commission , part of the Department of the Environment , to establish a pilot scheme . Mr Dobbs sighs : ‘ This is a typically British bureaucratic response .
Idiom: run a mile (used idiomatically: yes)
I was chuffed . ' Derek Milne , who was running in his fourteenth marathon , was disappointed with his time of four hours 12 minutes . ' I was running just 20 miles a week in my build up for the race . It just proves that you ca n't hope to turn in a worthy performance if you have n't done sufficient preparation . ' said Derek , from THORP Design Office .
Idiom: keep someone posted (used idiomatically: no)
For some years he lived on his estate at Ballinastow in county Wicklow , where he was high sheriff in 1835 . After contesting Waterford City in 1837 he was elected MP for Harwich in 1841 . He kept this post until 1847 , when he became MP for North Essex . In public life his guiding principles were Protestantism and protectionism . He opposed the Maynooth bill of Sir Robert Peel in 1845 and was made chief whip of the Protectionist party early in 1846 .
Idiom: under the table (used idiomatically: yes)
The twin - elliptic pendulum drawing machine described by Judith Mirzoeff in ‘ A wealth of mechanical patterns’(Forum , 23 December , p 854 ) is , in fact , more widely known as the twin - elliptic harmonograph . Engineer Charles Stratton 's claim to have been ‘ the only person to have made money from such a machine’ is difficult to substantiate . For well over a century the design has been available whilst in 1909 the Science Museum , for example , acquired the example to be seen in the Computing Then and Now gallery , purchasing the cheaper of the two production models made by Messrs Newton and Co. and fully described in the firm 's literature Stratton 's brainchild differs from the Newton model only in having the second pendulum attached to the pen instead of hanging below the main pendulum under the table . The principle of operation is identical . Readers willing to invest 12p can buy a leaflet How to make a twin - elliptic harmonograph from the Science Museum bookshop .
Idiom: all along (used idiomatically: no)
Confusion is inevitable . The aim of this is to test the flexibility of every man in the group by imposing a situation which requires a major change in the plan , at no notice . The men in the group will have to cope with this sudden change of plan as if they had known about it all along . This group is the leading parachute battalion group , or LPBG . It is self - sustaining for three days , and includes all the men , equipment and stores required to fight in a limited conflict .
Idiom: at the end of the day (used idiomatically: yes)
The phrase “ Great Recession ” creates the impression that the economy is following the contours of a typical recession , only more severe – something like a really bad cold . That is why , throughout this downturn , forecasters and analysts who have tried to make analogies to past post - war US recessions have gotten it so wrong . Moreover , too many policymakers have relied on the belief that , at the end of the day , this is just a deep recession that can be subdued by a generous helping of conventional policy tools , whether fiscal policy or massive bailouts . But the real problem is that the global economy is badly overleveraged , and there is no quick escape without a scheme to transfer wealth from creditors to debtors , either through defaults , financial repression , or inflation . A more accurate , if less reassuring , term for the ongoing crisis is the “ Second Great Contraction . ”
Idiom: take the piss (used idiomatically: yes)
It 's just the way he speaks , he 's , he was trying to put across a really serious point . He was trying to put across a serious point . Yes , yeah he was trying to put across a serious point but he did n't really succeed cos everybody just takes the piss out of his voice . That 's just the way he speaks though . No I , I did n't I did n't take the piss out of him , I listened , I actually
Idiom: look the other way (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ A rowing boat , perhaps?’ ‘ Surely someone on board would have seen it?’ ‘ Perhaps they were looking the other way.’ ‘ Deliberately , you mean?’ ‘ Yes.’
Idiom: rough edges (used idiomatically: yes)
Second , the 20 years from the mid - fifties provided a period of only marginal differences in programmes both from election to election and between the parties . This was the period of " consensus politics " . Both the major parties were agreed as to the need for a welfare state and a mixed , but managed , economy that would soften the rough edges of capitalism as they cut into the needy . Under the leadership of Hugh Gaitskell , the Labour Party was dominated by a " revisionism " that edged away from socialism and dropped a commitment to the nationalisation of private industry . For its part , the Conservative Party , under the intellectual leadership of R. A. Butler , came to terms with the changes wrought by Labour from 1945–51 and adjusted to the new mood in the country so that it grudged towards state intervention in support of some kind of equality .
Idiom: play fast and loose (used idiomatically: yes)
Well frankly we do n't know . It did n't win it any friends in the Sun Microsystems Inc camp , where they could stand a few friends . It made at least one of their co - defendants uncomfortable and risked ticking off the judge by appearing to play fast and loose with the legal system . One is forced to ask what OSF had to gain and wonders if it was n't some kind of supralegal manoeuvre to put pressure on Addamax and Sun because they 've got something on the OSF contingent . But how can you pressure Sun when it 's locked in with what the judge himself considers an irrevocable letter of credit to cover the legal bills if Addamax loses ?
Idiom: stand someone in good stead (used idiomatically: yes)
Students are required to take courses in Social Theory and in Methods of Social Research but thereafter they are free to choose from a wide range of options . All honours candidates have to undertake a research project and submit a report on this as part of the final examination . For students and staff alike these exercises in ‘ doing’ sociology are exciting and rewarding ( and very frequently stand students in good stead when they apply for jobs ) . For students who wish to combine the study of Sociology with an interest in other subjects the department offers a sizeable array of joint degrees . Sociology can be combined with Social Policy , Social Anthropology , Social History , Economics , Politics , Law and History .
Idiom: go overboard (used idiomatically: yes)
The new ticket office is in the new East Stand . There is a huge video screen playing past matches and you can get a drink and something to eat if you want to ! Yes I know I 'm going overboard but I was impressed . Its got to be the best ticket office going . From :
Idiom: keep mum (used idiomatically: yes)
Richard Crossman was ‘ a heavyweight intellect with a lightweight judgement.’ Roy Jenkins 's appearance had ‘ the sleek pomposity of Mr Podsnap.’ And of the party in the Fifties : ‘ the Great Debate in British socialism has so far consisted in one side talking nonsense and the other side keeping mum.’ No one would accuse Mr Healey of retiring modesty . Documents declassified under the 30-year rule tend to confirm the wisdom of his early years in politics .
Idiom: sink or swim (used idiomatically: yes)
And I do n't trust you . Unfortunately from your point of view we 're both in this together now . We sink or swim together . Too many people have seen us over the past two or three days so anything I do will be linked to you . I understand just as much as you do what the dangers are .
Idiom: come to a head (used idiomatically: no)
They said it meant the latter ; they said they were ‘ prepared to see the ratio between profits and incomes preserved at a reasonable level by a tax which would become operative upon all industry when a certain figure was exceeded by profits as a whole ’ . This is very difficult , however . Because some people are making large profits , and raising the total of profits by so doing , it is proposed to come down on the ‘ innocent ’ businesses , whose profits may actually have gone down , who have been being ‘ responsible ’ and not increasing their prices ; and their taxes will be put up — all because of the other bounders , who meanwhile are laughing their heads off . And how , pray , will this affect the attitude of the ‘ innocent ’ who are made to suffer for the ‘ sins ’ of the ‘ guilty ’ ? The best thing for them to do would be likewise to get their profits up as far as possible above the datum line .
Idiom: add insult to injury (used idiomatically: yes)
CHRIS WILKINSON suffered a painful reversal of fortunes today as he slumped to defeat by world No 191 David Witt at Queens . Just 48 hours after dumping fourth seed Goran Ivanisevic out of the Stella Artois championships , the 23-year - old from Southampton lost 3–6 7–5 6–3 to one of the few players at Queen 's Club this week ranked lower than his 176 . To add insult to injury , the British No 2 led by a set and 5–1 before throwing it all away . ‘ After he got back I felt like I was in a black hole,’ groaned a disconsolate Wilkinson after his two hour defeat . ‘ If I could have got my nose in front again maybe I could have twisted it round but it was n't to be.’
Idiom: by heart (used idiomatically: yes)
This practice achieved twin objectives . It gave the European plan anonymity by not identifying the author of the plan , while his own copy under his own initials and those of his secretary would tell Mueller and his Detroit colleagues that he had a hand in its formulation , which is what Mueller and Muldoon wanted people to think . As presentation day grew closer with Mark racing against time to complete the plan and finalise the slide illustrations , so Klepner read and re - read it until he had almost learnt it off by heart . So complete was his total immersion in the subject that he actually began to believe that he had assisted Sanders in the plan 's preparation . His delusions were those of a messenger boy who assumes that because he takes the Chief Architect 's drawings to the print room , he has played a leading role in the design of the building .
Idiom: in the dock (used idiomatically: no)
The prosecution 's first attempt quickly collapsed . It accused Mr Mandela of carrying out acts of sabotage on dates when he was in prison . But as the judge quashed the indictment , the men were re - arrested in the dock and four other charges were brought : recruiting persons for training in sabotage and guerrilla warfare for the purpose of violent revolution , conspiring to aid foreign military units when they invaded the republic , furthering the aims of communism and soliciting and receiving funds for these purposes from several countries . The defendants , caught between the need to demonstrate their innocence and to stand by their political commitment , opted to make a political defence . They pleaded not guilty .
Idiom: up to here (used idiomatically: no)
More often than not you only need the bottom window out because most wardrobes'll go out that way you see . So that 's what you 've got , you 've got a situation like that . Then you bring your ladder that you 've brought with you for the job and you put it up leaning on this windowsill , so that essentially if that 's the windowsill the end of that table there , it 's up to here you see with the top of the ladder just above the windowsill . You put a wrapper over the top and then off you go . This is a two - man job .
Idiom: change hands (used idiomatically: yes)
Retirement Relief is normally available on the disposal of a business asset by an individual which has been used by his family company . Again the problem will arise that it will be unlikely that a company will satisfy the text to qualify as a family company . D. There will be tax consequences when shares change hands on introduction of new members , death and retirement . The normal rules applicable to dealings in shares will apply . Conclusion
Idiom: in the works (used idiomatically: yes)
Article 19 said a correspondent for the independent newspaper Narodnaya ~ Volya who attempted to determine how many people involved in emergency work in the contaminated zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor after the 1986 catastrophe were still alive was told by the Ministry ~ of ~ Emergencies that non - state newspapers could be refused access to any information .
Idiom: on the stump (used idiomatically: yes)
I 'm so hot!’ he groaned . ‘ Let 's rest for a minute.’ Constance sat on the stump of the tree , just above Nicky 's head . ‘ Well , only for a minute,’ she said . ‘ The flies are driving me mad.’
Idiom: have a ball (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah . You che , what do you say now ? A , i , has he , does he still have his ball ? Has he what ? Still have his ball .
Idiom: chop and change (used idiomatically: yes)
Increasingly , his business became a non - media conglomerate . The later Thomson story illustrates also the volatility of the conglomerate in the 1980s . Companies chopped and changed their holdings , for reasons that might have little to do with the specific nature of the businesses involved . Thomson 's son poured so much money into The Times in the vain effort to modernize it in the late 1970s that no one could blame him for wanting to sell it . But when he did so ( with The Sunday Times ) to Murdoch in 1981 , the reason in fact was the wider international strategy of the organization .
Idiom: in the nick of time (used idiomatically: yes)
The child had been saved , thank God . At least , he felt , an act of Providence had prevented him from having a death on his conscience . But the awareness of what might have been had not some stalwart Cornishman come along the beach in the nick of time and the thought of the possible after - effects on both Celia and Liza haunted him . Should he write ? Would she reply ?
Idiom: up in the air (used idiomatically: yes)
She used to say , ‘ Hell , Tabs , they can look at you all the time if they want to . And they want to.’ She 'd point up in the air , where the Gnats were zipping around on their little gliders , like little pointed flower petals in the sky . Except there is n't any sky . Not on Integrity 2 .
Idiom: in the swim (used idiomatically: yes)
My hooking and losing a fish had n't put them off . It rarely has before , and anyhow , bream continued to roll and give line bites afterwards . Rolling bream are not frightened bream , nor do they hang around in the swim if they 've been spooked by an escaping fish . Although conditions were a little better in that there was a bit of breeze at times during the night , the moon had grown to a full half rather than the quarter it had been . We all know that a full moon is not normally conducive to good fishing , so was that half moon enough to make the difference ?
Idiom: go hand in hand (used idiomatically: no)
In that way , people can see how effective the organisation is against other providers or against a regional or national average . That creates strong pressure to emulate the best and so will lead to improved quality and efficiency . Quality and efficiency go firmly hand in hand . The Education ( Schools ) Bill , which was published last week , aims to do precisely that . In future , schools will publish more information in a comparable format , so that parents can see easily whether their child 's school is up with the best .