Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: fall on stony ground (used idiomatically: yes)
This only incited the centre to renewed activity . In November 1923 a new peasant paper , Krest'ianskaia gazeta , was to appear , with a circulation of 125,000 by March 1924 . Many correspondents complained that their constructive advice , as opposed to their prying , fell on stony ground , since most peasants lacked the means to put technical advice on agriculture into effect . There were other reasons . The peasants did not fail to note that the correspondents were often ex - clerks of the Tsarist regime , and so extremely bureaucratic and long used to writing what their employers wanted to read .
Idiom: on the horn (used idiomatically: no)
Wave after wave of attackers are routed , and Roland alone kills many hundreds . But eventually the French are reduced to a small band , and Roland realizes that he did wrong to send his faithful followers to death by his proud refusal to blow the oliphant . And so , when it is too late , he blows it , and Charlemagne returns ; but the blast on the horn , coupled with the fatigue of fighting , is too great an effort for Roland 's strength ; he bursts a blood vessel or two , and from then on is a dying man . In this way the author ( somewhat naively ) avoids the anti - climax of making Roland fall victim to a Saracen sword . Roland lives long enough to see all his followers die , and also to see the last remnants of the Saracen army void the field in confused rout , and then he dies .
Idiom: beg the question (used idiomatically: yes)
However , Eleanor Young vice - chairman of the National Association of Community Health Councils and chairman of Darlington CHC , expressed concern that recent efforts to bring down the lists would not be sustained over the next few months and years . Mrs Young said : ‘ It is really too early to comment on whether this is going to be the permanent way of things . ‘ Even the recent drop begs the question if they can do all this in a month or two , why could n't they have done it before.’ She welcomed the work done and the fact that so many people who had been waiting for so long had been treated , but was concerned that health workers who had been working flat out to reduce the lists would not be able to maintain their work rate . She added : ‘ Even if you have to wait a year , it 's a long time if you 're worried about it.’
Idiom: night and day (used idiomatically: yes)
It was clear to John that the opportunities in ballet , both for training and performance , were far better in Cape Town than in Johannesburg . But to move there would involve a drastic break with his home . The journey of almost a thousand miles took more than two nights and a day by steam train , along track of narrower gauge than is usual elsewhere , and therefore with slower speeds . The terrain was so difficult that for part of the journey three locomotives were needed to pull one train . You left one afternoon and arrived on the morning of the third day .
Idiom: get it up (used idiomatically: no)
So he , took it back before and put brand new bonnet that they 've put on . Did n't fit ! And he says , when he gets it up to sixty mile an hour on t ' motorway it 's still vibrating . Yeah . So , he 's gon na go int insurance this morning , tell them that er bonnet 's still vibrating and they 've supposed to have done it twice and that , because of er ask them where he can take to have all these repair jobs done .
Idiom: rare bird (used idiomatically: yes)
However he argued that ancient woodlands were still under threat from new planting and new road developments — for example the proposed destruction of Oxleas Wood in south east London , to make way for a Thames crossing . RSPB CALL TO STOP PERSECUTION OF BIRDS Many of the UK 's rarest birds of prey are under continuing threat of persecution , claim the RSPB as they launch a campaign to raise £ 400,000 to help eradicate the problem . This follows close on the heels of a report published by the RSPB last year , Death by Design , which outlined just how serious the problem had become . For example there were 367 recorded deaths of buzzards over a ten year period , although according to the RSPB the real figure is likely to be ten times that number .
Idiom: throw in the towel (used idiomatically: yes)
Insignia has something like 100 engineers working on its line . SOFTLINK FORMED OUT OF ASHES OF SAMSUNG SOFTWARE Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has thrown in the towel on its facsimile software for Unix unit Samsung Software America and dissolved the operation after about a year . However , the developer of the Replix software , Dr Hikyu Lee , who had been president of Samsung Software , has picked up the rights to it and moved it to SoftLinks Inc , a new operation he is starting with ex - Data General Corp staffer John Doyle as vice - president , sales and marketing . PIONEER DIGITHURST PUTS TOGETHER ALL THE MAKINGS OF THE CUSTOMISED ELECTRONIC NEWSPAPER
Idiom: break someone's heart (used idiomatically: yes)
Father she said , please do n't send Nyasha . She would be so lonely to be without you . It would break her heart to have to go away , even to be wife to a king . I tell you what father , I 'm your eldest daughter , I will go to the city , and I will become queen . And then you will have Nyasha to look after you .
Idiom: take stock (used idiomatically: yes)
Pouchitis has not occurred in patients with constipation or megacolon but has been found in three of 24 patients with familial adenomatous polyposis . Discussion After nine years exploring a new operation for large bowel disease we considered that it was time to take stock and objectively evaluate the merit of restorative proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis , familial adenomatous polyposis , and functional bowel disorders . We therefore reviewed all patients by personal interview where possible ( n=154 ) . Those living abroad or in other regions and unable to attend were contacted by post or telephone .
Idiom: break the ice (used idiomatically: yes)
The last time I saw Jonathan was Thursday evening when he picked me up in the car and we went for a drive . Now that my divorce has come through we thought it was time to tell people that we were getting married and start seeing each other openly . He was going to tell his mother and sister on the Friday and , to break the ice , we decided to go to the Fire Festival on Saturday ; he was to pick me up here at eight and we were going together.’ She broke off and sat for a moment staring in the fire . When she resumed her voice was unsteady .
Idiom: save face (used idiomatically: yes)
The most dismal performance is by Pravda , the official party paper , of whose regular readers only 36 per cent had renewed their subscriptions . But even Ogonyok , considered the most chic and sought - after of the progressive press , is running at only 50 per cent of 1989 levels . Perhaps , as officials contend , faces will be saved by a last - minute rush to meet the new deadline . More probably , however , even the final figures will show large declines — the most telling possible proof of how the exhilaration of being able to read almost anything has been replaced by disillusion at being able to buy almost nothing . Vyacheslav Antonov , a senior official of the central press agency , Soyuzpechat , claimed yesterday that readers were merely becoming more discerning , after having snapped up everything on offer in the initial heady flush of press freedom .
Idiom: do the trick (used idiomatically: yes)
Thank you . Thank you . But that should do the trick Mary And I and it 'll settle it 'll settle
Idiom: take root (used idiomatically: yes)
The private sphere becomes the natural home of modern man . In the public world perhaps the older Puritan work ethic still dominates , though more so in the United States than Great Britain . But in the private world(s ) hedonism takes root . Capitalism and the sterner Puritan ethic are delighted with hedonism as a private way of life because hedonism encourages consumerism , and consumerism becomes the economic mode of hedonism for modern man . Pleasure , in short , belongs to private leisure and individual patterns of economic consumption .
Idiom: fun and games (used idiomatically: yes)
Mark , four , came to me looking terribly concerned and said , ‘ I feel sorry for Fiona — she 's got such funny feet!’ Sarah secured her post at Devons School immediately after completing a four - year Bachelor of Education degree at Bath College of Higher Education where she specialised in four to eight - year - olds . The funny things her young pupils say and do provide Sarah with a little light relief , but teaching is n't all fun and games . ‘ The kids are n't very independent . When I 'm doing work with one group , the others will come up to me , saying ‘ Miss miss … ’ and I 'll have another problem to sort out,’says Sarah .
Idiom: do me a favour (used idiomatically: yes)
. I 've got it . Ian do me a favour ? Can you take this off my money ? Please ?
Idiom: wide of the mark (used idiomatically: yes)
As lavish as always with his hospitality Victor began dispensing free cognac and coffee in celebration of what might have been a prodigal son 's return , introducing his regulars to D'Arcy and he to them . ‘ And your friend?’ Victor asked , eyes squinting as he made one of his instant character assessments which were rarely wide of the mark . ‘ This is Nader,’ D'Arcy said . ‘ A client of mine .
Idiom: follow suit (used idiomatically: yes)
The programme was estimated to have cost around $ 1,000 million per annum . French Prime Minister Pierre Beregovoy claimed that the moratorium was intended as a gesture towards limiting nuclear proliferation , and he called on other countries to make " balanced reductions " in their nuclear arsenals . He added that the moratorium would be extended if other countries followed suit . * The Russian government has called for a comprehensive moratorium on weapons testing by all nuclear states . International Herald Tribune 9 April Le Monde 10 April Guardian 10 April Independent 13 April Far Eastern Economic Review 30 April ITAR - TASS World Service 17 April ( BBC Summary of World Broadcasts )
Idiom: go to town (used idiomatically: yes)
You do n't go into town . Ay Do n't go to town , just catch the one that goes straight into Church Hill . You do n't go as far as Church Hill ! Where ?
Idiom: act of God (used idiomatically: yes)
The shock and grief are not of his death really , but more because of his life . I did n't expect it to hit me quite so hard , but when I think about it it 's because I 'm so bloody sad that the last fourteen years were spent in dying not in living . ‘ What I want to grieve is the old Maurice before he was laid so humiliatingly low by whatever it was — a stroke , a deprivation of oxygen , an act of God — we 'll never know . But even at his most confused , the essence of Maurice was still there , and we loved him for it even when it drove us spare . ‘ I 'm dedicating tonight 's show to him — wherever he is I hope it 's a good one for him .
Idiom: run out of steam (used idiomatically: yes)
The Year of Betting ~ Conservatively NEW ~ YORK – The upswing in global equity markets that started in July is now running out of steam , which comes as no surprise : with no significant improvement in growth prospects in either the advanced or major emerging economies , the rally always seemed to lack legs . If anything , the correction might have come sooner , given disappointing macroeconomic data in recent months . Starting with the advanced countries , the eurozone recession has spread from the periphery to the core , with France entering recession and Germany facing a double whammy of slowing growth in one major export market ( China / Asia ) and outright contraction in others ( southern Europe ) .
Idiom: out of the picture (used idiomatically: yes)
At last there seemed to be a visible bond between them . I would hate to find myself part of any anti - Diana conspiracy , but it did cross my mind that some of her critics were right when they claimed that she deliberately sought to dominate family photographs . With Diana out of the picture , Charles is emerging as a fitting father figure . Fear of rape that stalks our big cities Paul Wilenius
Idiom: born and bred (used idiomatically: yes)
Are your friends from Spain?’ Guido smiled . ‘ No , they 're locals , born and bred . But in this part of Sardinia the local tongue is a version of Catalan . Six hundred years ago it was settled by Spaniards — just as the south part of the island was settled by Moors and Turks.’
Idiom: chop and change (used idiomatically: yes)
TIM RUSSON / Reporting Voice over United chopped and changed their team to face Leicester , but they still ended up on the wrong end of a 2 - 1 scoreline . City who are chasing promotion , took the lead with a penalty . No arguments , no complaints from Oxford .
Idiom: pie in the sky (used idiomatically: yes)
Celia could see at once that the place had distinct possibilities . She and Brian went to view the property on a particularly promising April day : blossom in the apple trees , undulating green downs in the background and puffs of white clouds scudding across the blue overhead . So much pie in the sky , she remembered thinking later . What was it Granny Tremayne used to say ? Always try to see a prospective home in the depths of winter .
Idiom: pass muster (used idiomatically: yes)
If the venue which staged the Dickies gig which he moaned about had imposed such a bigoted , snobbish door policy then , if his account is anything to go by , the audience would have considered one of intolerant wanker and a small number of his friends . A promoter 's ( and band 's ) paradise , surely . If Reynolds finds the atmosphere of these gigs so offensive , he should simply stay away from them , rather than inflict his Points Of View mentality on the thousands of people who may not pass his muster , but have just as much right to see live music as anyone . Or he could start his own venue , impose his own narrow - minded door policy and see how few people turn up and how few bands agree to play . Can you imagine : ' Yo , Rollins !
Idiom: down the drain (used idiomatically: yes)
Now I know it 's the landlord 's it 's as tainted as an unfaithful lover . The duvet symbolizes the whole wretchedness of leaving , so I slump at the table , pulling a long face and blowing ripples in the surface of my coffee which has grown cold anyway . Just before we leave , I go into the kitchen and turn on the tap so his hot water can run down the drain . This is a day that 's growing bleaker , and I feel my face has aged ten years . A taxi brought us to a boarding house she knew , and we 're shown into an apology for a bedroom .
Idiom: with a vengeance (used idiomatically: yes)
BORN TO DIE IN MEDELLIN FAMILIARITY with reports of cocaine barons , death squads and street children will still leave you unprepared for the stories captured by Alonso Salazar in his collection of interviews with the teenage contract killers of Medellin , their families and their opponents . Columbia 's bloody past has caught up with its present with a vengeance . In the 1940s and 1950s , Columbia went through a period known simply as ‘ La Violencia’ , when some 200,000 were killed for their allegiance to the Liberals or Conservatives . In the 1970s and 1980s , left - wing guerrilla groups moved into the cities , trained teenagers in the use of weapons and were then pushed back in to the countryside by the army .
Idiom: rank and file (used idiomatically: yes)
In their work on the Labour Spain Committee they conclude : The party 's identification with the cause of the Spanish Republic was never translated into practical aid for winning the war . whether possible or not , it was never contemplated The Labour party leadership failed consistently to put principle into practice , while the rank - and - file opposition to party politics , as expressed by the Labour Spain Committee , confused imperatives and failed to effect a radical change of policy . Watkins comes to a similar conclusion , although he argues that the Labour Party 's hostility to working with the Communist Party was the reason for its failure to force the National government to abandon its non - intervention policy . These criticisms are , in many respects , justified although it would seem a bit far - fetched for historians to believe that the Labour Party , even in alliance with the Communist Party , could have forced a National government with an overwhelming parliamentary majority , to have capitulated to external pressure .
Idiom: second nature (used idiomatically: yes)
While these , of course , are unique to each school , other schools , by using similar methods , would come up with their own action plans , secure in the knowledge that those most involved with the school have had a chance to pull together to ensure that appropriate learning , with support , is taking place . Perhaps the most important aspect of the project discussed here was the establishment of an honest critical approach in the staff and parents as they worked towards real partnership . By the end of the project , evaluation of each new step was beginning to become second nature and exchange was deeper than pleasantries or focusing only on a specific child . Working on the project was an awful lot of hard work , and a lot of soul searching but it 's been worth it . I think at last we have a sense of us all being in it together — not easy though .
Idiom: come to think of it (used idiomatically: yes)
He probably worked on all his victims this way — softening them up , earning their trust and then moving in for the kill . Such subtlety would be true to form for a scorpion , after all . And , when she came to think of it , he might have disliked her description of him , but he had n't denied any of it . He finished painting in a silence so icy she could almost feel its frosty fingers on her skin , then climbed down the ladder and handed her the paintbrush . ‘ You may think of me what you will,’ he said coldly .
Idiom: go straight (used idiomatically: no)
, erm most of the staff at Broadmoor have n't got much time for do gooders . No . Erm , last time the do gooders insisted , one of them was left out , he went straight to the South Coast , killed his mum and his Yeah , yeah . girl friend .
Idiom: up against it (used idiomatically: yes)
KEITH RICHARDSON/ Gloucester Coach Voice over Gloucester do n't believe in doing things the easy way … funny thing is they play better when they 're up against it … so this game was ideal … they were losing and down to fourteen men when Pete Jones was sent off mid way through the first half for stamping … 6 - 3 down at half - time … they were in even bigger trouble at the start of the second half when Nick Beal raced through to score for Northampton … any other team would have packed their bags and be finished by now … not Gloucester … they were just starting …
Idiom: never you mind (used idiomatically: yes)
He 's at Hendre Gorfelen — alone . ' ' How do you know ? ' ' Never you mind . ' Resilience was the key to Maurice 's existence , Charlotte realized . He could be knocked back on his heels , but never for long .
Idiom: beat about the bush (used idiomatically: yes)
All the same , once he appeared to be actually enjoying this extension of our meeting , I felt as reassured as I was grateful . This was all the more so , since part of the problem with which I was faced was due , as I recognized , to lack of forethought on my side , though it had been complicated by a stroke of ill - luck . Eliot did not beat about the bush . He agreed that a regrettable lack of foresight was at the root of it , but he felt that there were extenuating circumstances , and he seemed resolved to do something about it , in so far as he could . I noted then , what I had noted earlier , that , at such a juncture , he seemed to sink his own personal problems and interests in concentrating on the troubles of the other person .
Idiom: ride roughshod over (used idiomatically: yes)
Chairperson at tonight 's meeting , Councillor Maureen Christian , says although they understand the needs of students , they ca n't ignore the views of local residents . We 're negotiating with the polytechnic to give them permission to build a hostel on the John Boscoe playing field . So we are sympathetic towards this er provision of student accommodation , but we also can not ride roughshod over the concerns of the local community . The polytechnic says they 're fully aware of local objections and have revised the plans to account for them . Mr Summers says good relations with the community are very important .
Idiom: one for the road (used idiomatically: yes)
' Last orders , gentlemen , please , ' said the barman . George Carter dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out some small silver . ' One for the road then , Jack ? ' Charlie looked at the little coins . ' What 's that ?
Idiom: know no bounds (used idiomatically: yes)
Canada eventually plundered that trophy . That Fiji won the main prize so easily led to something of an anti - climax , but that was hardly the fault of the organisers , though they were to blame for the scant and often inaccurate team information for public and press . John Jeffrey 's popularity on Fiji knew no bounds . The White Shark , who would regularly sign autographs for all and sundry , had heard Gregor Townsend , tongue in cheek , suggesting that he ( Townsend ) and the gifted Fijian stand - off , Waisale Serevi , were best mates and knew each other well from Fiji 's successful trip to the 1991 Gala Sevens . Jeffrey had a word with Serevi , who to Townsend 's bewilderment , appeared at his shoulder and asked for the Gala teenager 's autograph .
Idiom: come in from the cold (used idiomatically: yes)
Emecheta followed its success with Second - Class Citizen and The Bride Price but when her publishers , Allison and Busby , went broke , she decided to publish the hardbacks herself and sell on the paperback rights . It was very much a cottage industry : she and her two sons would drive around with books in the car , being their own distributors . Only now has she come in from the cold with her eleventh book being published by Collins ( at £ 10.95 ) . Writing has always been fitted in before other demands on her time — two hours in the morning before the children were awake when they were living at home . She took a BSc honours degree in Sociology at London University , worked as a community counsellor for one - parent families in Camden and was on the literature panel of the Arts Council until their decision to return to the Government some money designated for writers ' bursaries led her to resign in disgust .
Idiom: by the book (used idiomatically: yes)
[ F]ew reports have assembled so much wisdom whilst proving so completely useless , as the Report of the Committee on Ministers ' Powers … [ I]n no important respect did the report influence , much less delay , the onrush of administrative power , and the supersession of the ordinary forms of law which is today taking place . … Its report restored to the public a sense of security , which had been badly shaken by Lord Hewart 's book , and which subsequent events have proved to be false . Nevertheless , while the Report may have rejected the reactionary normativist ideology it is also the case that it did nothing to challenge the dominant legal culture . Orthodox legal views on the nature of social legislation and the relationship between that legislation and the common law remained untouched by the Report .
Idiom: rough and ready (used idiomatically: yes)
A good man , Ephraim Cook , with a good , strait - laced , sensible wife , a man who 'd keep the looms turning and the profits coming in long after John - William himself was in his grave . No imagination though . None of that extra quality , whatever it was , which had got the business going in the first place , which had ensured John - William success in those early rough - and - ready days of colossal risks and colossal returns , when so many had failed . The drive — perhaps that was what he ought to call it ? — which Gemma may well have inherited in abundance . If she 'd been a man .