Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: song and dance (used idiomatically: yes)
Why did every bloody argument have to follow such a pattern ? Did n't she realise that he saw through every trick she used . ‘ And I did n't mean to imply you were making a song and dance . Only that intelligent people can surely accept that a man who has a job like mine can accidentally forget that his wife is giving a dinner party without immediately assuming his lapse is due to lack of concern for her.’ ‘ Oh , I know my friends are n't on a high intellectual plane like yours !
Idiom: go to the dogs (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ The future . You know , I 'm not saying your lot wo n't win , but I hope it does n't happen in my lifetime . But things really are going to the dogs.’ Fergus sounded genuinely morose , Kenneth thought . ‘ Ah , you 're just peeved your lot have elected a woman leader .
Idiom: born and bred (used idiomatically: yes)
He lifted Hyde 's right hand ; the fingers had been set and splinted and individually wrapped . " Well at least it looks like you had a good doctor … " " We did ; Harley Street , with an accent and a school behind him , " Brady winked , " but his parents were Galway born and bred . " Patrick touched Joe 's face and the man winced . " Joe , can you hear me/ Joe …
Idiom: go to town (used idiomatically: no)
Only that now that 's what they sell things there th they 've started there . On the beach there , there 's a shop there now . But there were seven in all these streets here and we never used they never used to go to town . We never used to go Here we used to be and on the beach there . What did they sell , these er shops ?
Idiom: streets ahead (used idiomatically: yes)
Looks like a small boy , sometimes a little lost . But looks were never more deceptive . He is in exactly the right job : streets ahead of most others in the UK in his number - crunching agility —‘in the country 's top 5 per cent , at least ’ , Bloch says — and ‘ unbelievably good’ at critical reasoning , with a score of 90 . A formidable profile is supplemented by an amazing mechanical ability in a power game where hands and minds do not usually work together , and by a talent for dissecting what others say . But being able to mend the lift does not get you to the top in merchant banking .
Idiom: turn the tables (used idiomatically: yes)
Tomorrow at Christchurch sports ground Oxfordshire County Cricket Association take on Warwickshire in the final of the National Cricket Association 's County Championship . Warwickshire are the current holders of the Championship , while Oxfordshire have won it once in 1979 and were runners up in 1984 . Leading Oxfordshire as ever we 're with the England amateur captain Phil Garner ; Phil , tomorrow 's match — with the weather unsettled , can we expect to see the spin attack of Rupert Evans and Ian Curtis turn the tables again ? Well I should think you 'd see that spin attack turn the tables whatever the weather was really , and we 've also got Peter Bradbury who 's taken more wickets in the Cherwell lead than anybody this year , so we 've got three first line County standard off spinners er or rather two off spinners and a left arm spinner . And I 'm sure you 'll see them in operation tomorrow , we 've got six bowlers in all so we 're fairly confident that we 'll er bowl whatever the conditions .
Idiom: behind bars (used idiomatically: yes)
Here ! Here in his own country . Who can be free in this country after the Treason Trials which set behind bars and left to rot … ’ The young man watched him very warily indeed , waiting only for the chance to be off . It was all very well for a gentleman to talk about Treason and France and Tom Paine — and he was taking care to do it where nobody was around — but one nod of agreement from him and the world could crash down on his head .
Idiom: call it a day (used idiomatically: yes)
Bracken Cottage , which had come to her on Elise 's death , was all very well , but living out in one of the Sherwood Forest villages would have entailed long rush - hour drives twice a day , and already Merrill had gathered that Luke Travis was n't the sort of man to take kindly to excuses about traffic - jams . She would have no trouble in finding a tenant for the cottage ; already Simon Clifford , a neighbour , had approached her on behalf of an acquaintance of his who was looking for a place in the area . By five o'clock , just as Merrill was about to call it a day , she was offered the lease on a small flat in a pleasant , tree - lined avenue . It called for a celebration — a double celebration , really , she decided . New job , new flat , and Max pushed safely , although still painfully , into her London past : the background where he belonged , she thought wryly .
Idiom: take it or leave it (used idiomatically: yes)
But what I am doing is giving you the opportunity to prove me wrong . This is a genuine project and one that I would like to be completed before the end of the summer . You can take it or leave it . It 's up to you.’ He glanced down at Robyn 's feet .
Idiom: move the goalposts (used idiomatically: yes)
He has n't got anybody now No what I 'm saying is we 'd have the right people if we pay more money , that 's the core of the problem That 's moving the flipping goalposts is n't it ? All I 'm try we 're only speaking from the best interests here , speaking from the bloody heart rather than the head probably here but we we do want th we do want the best but it 's the old old story , it 's botching it up is n't it , it 's fudging it , it 's trying to fit a square pet into a role cos we pay crap money y'know Yeah , if at the end of the day it 's a quick fix then
Idiom: on the skids (used idiomatically: yes)
I was going to the dogs . ‘ MAKING HAY : THE FOOTBALLER AS PUBLICAN Johnstone 's recollections are a sad but reassuringly honest appraisal of a career on the skids and although drink and football are part of the untamed humour of Scottish society , they are also a major part of the untold pain . Alcohol abuse in Scotland is its own special problem , and for all their importance as the working - class aristocracy of Scottish society , footballers are more vulnerable to drink than most . Behind the myth of the big drinkers like Hughie Gallacher and Jim Baxter , are the people who did n't quite make it to the realm of myth , the lonely bores , the manic depressives , the failed fullbacks and the defeated unfortunates who had to retire early and find a job in the real world .
Idiom: mark someone's card (used idiomatically: yes)
We have a box full of varieties for you to try , including Tar Baby , for scalps in need of a bit of care ; Bronx Blonde with chamomile for fair hair ; Dead Sea Salt for frequent washing ; and Coconut for normal to dry hair . And to get your free shampoo bar , send your name and address on a postcard to Sharon Griffiths , Shop Talk , Northern Echo , Priestgate , Darlington DL1 1NF . Mark your card with which variety you 'd like and we 'll try , but not promise , to send your favourite . Names out of the hat next Friday morning . Sitting safely ARE your children sitting comfortably in the car ?
Idiom: jump to conclusions (used idiomatically: yes)
But I had discovered one of the problems , one of the deep - seated wrinkles about my foreign students : they do n't speak English very well . That was the cause of it . I mean , there she was nodding away and smiling at me , and Ollie , poor old dimwit braindead Ollie , actually jumped to the conclusion that these outward behavioural ties were reliable indicators of reciprocated attraction . Which not too surprisingly in my view led to a misunderstanding which , while ultimately regrettable , was surely purged of culpability on the part of the hapless instructor . And the idea that I resisted her desire to vamoose from my apartment , that I was unmoved when she burst into tears — how could I , an aficionado of opera , fail to respond to lachrymosity ? — is a ridiculous exaggeration .
Idiom: go great guns (used idiomatically: yes)
Granted better luck he should get his head back in front and is likely to start at a reasonable price in this company . Tom Jones held his young hurdler Jackson Flint in enough esteem to enter him in a race at the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival meeting even though he does not yet have a win to his credit . His best effort was a second to Chief Celt at Towcester , when he was not fully wound up but he went great guns for Steve Smith - Eccles in a fast bit of work I watched on the Line gallop on Waterhall on Wednesday morning . He looks likely to run in Doncaster 's Flamborough Head Novices Hurdle tomorrow though do not be surprised if he is rerouted for the Grade 2 Berkshire Hurdle at Newbury . Interestingly Tom Jones told me , ‘ Even if he runs well I might miss Cheltenham with him and keep him fresh for another good race at the Grand National meeting at Aintree.’
Idiom: in your face (used idiomatically: yes)
J is speaking up for himself , which would n't mean shit if ' First They Came ' was n't such a simmering , mystical monster . It 's records like this that make me pissed off with political thrashcore . J is angry , but he realises that you have n't got to get totally in - your - face to get a serious message across . As a result , while Consolidated ponce about and play the rebel and might reach 50,000 , J might get the word to millions . Sometimes being right - on can be groovy .
Idiom: bend someone's ear (used idiomatically: yes)
And it goes on . Now some of you were nodding there and some of you were smiling , it might be that you actually would quite like to say you know that I believe it 's wrong for people to be born disabled , handicapped . That year nine student has got quite a lot to say , has written a very nice letter of complaint to god , bending god 's ear , say just one minute god . You need to have a think about those things as well . You did very well this morning , will you quietly stand .
Idiom: watering hole (used idiomatically: yes)
The cool narrative economy and unforced style recall early Fassbinder . And , while none of the industrial townscapes could be described as pretty , he has a terrific eye . Introducing Wired , his biography of John Belushi , Bob Woodward recalls how the rigours of research involved going to bed early so as to rise at 4 am to visit one of the comedian 's favourite watering holes . Annotated , logged and indexed , his book scarcely illuminated Belushi 's demons , or the system that supposedly destroyed him . But it did summon up the delicious image of the straitlaced reporter gingerly dipping his toe , notebook in hand , into the showbiz underworld .
Idiom: out of the woods (used idiomatically: yes)
Not far from where she was standing the footpath through the wood began . She glanced at it uneasily , remembering that it ran past the witch 's cottage . She remembered another thing too — that the path came out of the wood at the other end within a very short distance of her own house . ‘ I wish … ’ began Virginia , and then stopped . She was wishing she could find the courage to go through the wood by the path .
Idiom: cut and dried (used idiomatically: yes)
C.l . D. sussed us and found some on us . It was cut and dried . They dusted , booked us , cuffed us and pushed us down to the station and read us our rights .
Idiom: close to home (used idiomatically: no)
The fact is that the considerable amount of literature now being produced on ' IT ' and ' strategy'is notable for the almost complete absence of any mention of external online database systems of the type used by librarians and information scientists . Where there is coverage of such systems as potential IT - based contributors to improved corporate strategy , the reference will be to systems that are not normally the province of librarians and information scientists ( such as financial market systems , credit - rating services ) ; or it will be to videotex - based systems which most librarians and information scientists would n't be seen dead using!(cf . Prestel ) . The other major usage of the term ' information management'(sometimes extended to ' information resource management ' or ' information resources management'[Information Resource Management ( 1988 ) ] ) is closer to home . And it is usually taken to mean the coordinated management of all the information - based resources of the firm : those that are IT - based ; but also those that are not ( yet ? ) IT - based .
Idiom: on and off (used idiomatically: yes)
This is not the case : rather , this feeling reflects much of our ignorance as to what , in detail , is going on inside the cell . Ultimately , we want to link gene action with pattern and form . Knowing how genes are turned on and off is an important step towards understanding the internal programme of the cell and how this is influenced by signals from other cells . During development a number of different cell types are generated , each with their characteristic ‘ luxury’ proteins . How is this diversity achieved ?
Idiom: once and for all (used idiomatically: yes)
TURKEY says it will ‘ seriously consider’ attacking Kurdish guerrilla training camps in the Bekaa Valley unless Syria takes immediate and effective action to end its support for the Kurdish Workers ' Party ( PKK ) . In recent weeks Ankara has taken an increasingly hard line against Syria over the 5,000 Kurdish guerrillas in camps in the Syrian - controlled valley in Lebanon . Mr Ismet Sezgin , Turkish Interior Minister , who is visiting Damascus next week , said : ‘ I am going to warn the Syrians once and for all against their support for terrorism.’ He will demand that the Syrians stop arming the rebels and allowing them to penetrate Turkey across their border , and is also expected to ask them to hand over Damascus - based Mr Abdullah Ocalan , leader of the Marxist PKK . Mr Suleyman Demirel , Turkish Prime Minister , who is under mounting pressure to curb the PKK 's growing military strength , gave warning that Turkey would ‘ hit the terrorists even in Baghdad and the Bekaa if need be’ .
Idiom: once and for all (used idiomatically: yes)
( Ackerman , 1970 , p. 346 ) Figure 7.1 Who does what in the investment process This suggests that , instead of a once - and - for - all decision at the end of the analysis , there may be a process of evaluation that develops with the project , and that decisions and analyses are not undertaken without consideration of prior experience . Ackerman also found that in integrated firms there was a great deal of divisional - HQ interaction over significant investments , often extending over several years , and that this was a powerful device for gaining commitment to major projects , although the impetus any project gained was also a function of fairly subjective , often political factors . The degree of divisional - HQ interaction was not so extensive for diversified firms .
Idiom: strike a chord (used idiomatically: yes)
The source says : ‘ She went on to say that she had done more for the Royal Family than any of its other members . ‘ She outlined her regard for the children and made the point that she showed them more attention than the Prince of Wales appeared to.’ That final point — an echo of the affectionate question she often asked her sons ‘ Who loves you most?’— is said to have struck a chord with those who read it . In a last defiant gesture Diana fastened the letter with red sealing wax and had it hand - delivered , just as Prince Philip had done with the one he sent to her . By all accounts he was thunderstruck when he received it .
Idiom: do the right thing (used idiomatically: yes)
We 're in the 1990s , not the 1890s.’ Her godmother 's astringent words had their effect and suddenly Sophie 's nervousness disappeared . She had done the right thing and Robert 's note promised friendliness . That was all she had asked , and she would be content with that . That evening she dressed with care .
Idiom: all and sundry (used idiomatically: yes)
11.59 High upon the roof of the Butcher Building the boy Jonathan was up and about . He was up and about and shouting at all and sundry . Above him vast silver dirigibles moved in the morning sky , great black crates strung beneath them . These were being lowered to the roof - top , where Repo Men guided them on to powered sleds and steered them into the lift .
Idiom: on the face of it (used idiomatically: yes)
But she was no intellectual and , apart from a passion for the ballet , which she used to attend with her grandmother , Ruth , Lady Fermoy , she was like any ordinary teenager . She spent her time shopping , reading women 's magazines , listening to pop music and watching television . On the face of it , she and Prince Charles had very little in common when they re - met in 1979 . Quite apart from the intellectual and educational differences , they did not even share the same hobbies . Charles was a compulsive horseman ; Diana did n't ride .
Idiom: out of the woods (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Get down ! Hurry!’ The prisoner dismounted , then stumbled out of the wood . When he took off his dented helmet he proved to have bristly fair hair above a snub - nosed face . He reminded Sharpe of Jules , the miller 's son from Seleglise , who used to help Sharpe with Lucille 's flock of sheep and who had been so excited when Napoleon returned to France .
Idiom: make ends meet (used idiomatically: yes)
This is not the case . Nevertheless I have since been informed by Richard Buckley that ( if the concept is not entirely meaningless in the circumstances ) the Co - op gives ‘ the best value for money’ , in terms of materials used in their coffins and the general finish and quality of the handles and name - plate etc . Mr Hodgson explained that in buying up so many small firms , who really could no longer make ends meet , he , Howard Hodgson , could do better and cheaper funerals and that no one need worry about the cost any way , because if the deceased or whoever was taking the responsibility of next - of - kin possessed less than £ 300 , the DHSS would pay for the whole thing . ( This figure has now been increased to £ 500 . ) When he finally paused for breath , I said , ‘ Hold on a moment’ and explained that , although obviously nobody wants to spend more than they have to on anything , in my case it was a matter of principle , because I wanted my husband 's funeral to be a personal affair in which he would be ministered to by his loved - ones , not strangers .
Idiom: on the ropes (used idiomatically: yes)
There is a cliff in Kaiserslautern which holds a cave so deep and mysterious that no one has discovered its bottom . Tradition says that Emperor Frederick , who was missing , lives there . A man once attempted to descend into the cave on a long rope tied at the surface to a bell . He could ring the bell when he could descend no further . Reaching the bottom he saw the Emperor Frederick with a long beard , sitting on a golden throne .
Idiom: stand the test of time (used idiomatically: yes)
To some extent local factors come into the situation — the fine - tuning , for a village in what was Wessex will be different from that of a similar place in the former Danelaw or Northumbrian areas . Also , some surnames will appear to fit with equal precision ( or lack of precision ) into two or even three categories , and this is particularly true with names descending from the occupation , or status , of the first user . Given these qualifications , broad categories of value are locative — names derived from place - names or topographical features ; of relationship — names of fathers or mothers , with additional syllables , pet names , font names and diminutives;occupational and social status — indications of trade , calling or office , carried down the centuries , often in mutilated or garbled form;nicknames — tags and sobriquets which were sufficiently distinctive , felicitous and pronounceable as to stand the test of time . There are minor categories , and sub - categories within the foregoing groups , but for purposes of local history research the types listed will be adequate in most instances . Locative names
Idiom: with a vengeance (used idiomatically: yes)
Additionally the growing importance of the media , especially radio and television , highlighted the relatively poor performance of British sportsmen and women at an international level . Britain only won one gold medal in the 1952 Olympics and that was in an equestrian event . The Soviet Union had entered international sport with a vengeance , throwing the weight of a massive state machine against West European and American dominance of athletics . Cold War influences filtered through gradually and merged with a growing concern about the effects of increased leisure and affluence on the young , especially the problem of delinquency . ‘ It is easy to ridicule the ‘ that 's not cricket old boy’ attitude,’remarked Wolfenden , ‘ but in its deeper ( and usually inarticulate ) significance it stili provides something like the foundations of an ethical standard which may not be highly intellectual but does have a considerable influence on the day - to - day behaviour of millions of people.’
Idiom: prick up your ears (used idiomatically: yes)
No , I 've got three different letters and one that 's the same as another I was new before I met you Complete the film title , prick up er , oh start again , prick up your ears , bottom or pantyhose ? Ears Oh it 's ears I think
Idiom: below par (used idiomatically: yes)
The borrower undertakes to redeem the bond at ‘ par value’(100 ) on a certain date , and to pay the bondholder an annual fixed sum ( coupon rate ) in interest each year . Bonds may be bought either as new issue or second - hand on the secondary market . The investor buying from the secondary market may have bought the bond at a price below par value , and the annual fixed interest payment will represent a yield on his investment which will be more attractive the lower the price he originally paid . For instance , if 5 % Treasury stock can be bought on the market at f50 , the buyer receives f5 a year from the government . This will give him a yield of 10 % on his investment of f50 .
Idiom: old hat (used idiomatically: yes)
It could n't be helped if she was a pickpocket . Something had to be done for her . He leaned over her , removed her cheap hatpin and her old straw hat . A little grin parted his mouth . There was the wallet .
Idiom: fall from grace (used idiomatically: yes)
Gentlemen did n't clout their womenfolk about , beat them , bruise them , tie them up and whip them … or whatever jolly games Johnny 's preferences led him to pursue . She could readily imagine his feelings of guilt and self - disgust , and his anxiety to lay the blame at Bella 's door . Much of his hatred and contempt of Bella must have stemmed from her involvement in Johnny 's fall from grace . But Cassie strongly suspected that Johnny would have got there in the end , without any help from Bella . Bella was just an excuse ; a scapegoat .
Idiom: there's no fool like an old fool (used idiomatically: yes)
This unseemly chase after love was viewed with a hostile , overall amusement , for ' love ' had left Annie and Lizzie — and many far younger — long behind and it was valued like jaundice . This courting dance seemed to them a grotesque parody . Crossing the road to water the bed of dahlias and moon daisies and nasturtiums she kept on the grass margin across the road from her door at the beginning of the village , Mrs Reynolds paused to watch Rose make her way round by the bridge to the post office and muttered venomously , ' There 's no fool like an old fool ' , as if confronting the worst part of her own nature . In the two bars , and on the bridge and football field where the men gathered in the evening , there were the coarse shouts of ' Sink log ! All find their way to the dirty hollow ' , followed by cheers that echoed out like firing .