Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: go without saying (used idiomatically: yes)
Parliament , we removed the metropolitan upper tier . I am delighted that we will continue that process under my right hon . Friends the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State in the new Parliament which will be formed some time late next spring or in the summer . It goes without saying that a great urban conurbation such as Nottingham can not and must not have its affairs meddled in by councillors from Mansfield , Worksop and Retford who , although loyal Nottinghamshire people , have no community of interest in our great city and who , not surprisingly , want their towns to have as much of the county cake as they can get . Legislation that will take further the right of the public to know just how their council matches up with others must be right . It must also be right to have proper mechanisms in place to ensure that they get value for money .
Idiom: on the wagon (used idiomatically: yes)
When he went from RADA to the Bristol Old Vic he was soon in trouble for drinking too much . Together , he and his long - time friend from their days at RADA , Richard Harris , seemed determined to out - drink each other . Now they are both firmly on the wagon . ‘ I ca n't remember what it 's like to be drunk,’ said O'Toole some years after taking the pledge , ‘ it 's so long since a drink passed my lips . But I can remember when Richard Harris and me were skint students .
Idiom: mark time (used idiomatically: yes)
But the direction of fashion is not currently decided by the great tailors , no matter how well they cut their cloth . Designers who are skilled in offering softer alternatives have a rather greater influence for the present . Gaultier has remained true to himself , and must therefore mark time until fashion comes back around to his idiosyncratic viewpoint . Call for inquiry into dual role of Orkney official ORKNEY 'S highest ranked council official was last night facing an inquiry into his dual role as chief executive and finance director , after official criticism of his involvement in plans for the rival ferry service across the Pentland Firth .
Idiom: round the clock (used idiomatically: yes)
There was a deal of euphoria after the first night , the success of the missions , a certain element of surprise , but I did say at that time that we 'd be foolish to lower our guard , because erm there was still a lot of work to do , and that is exactly what it 's turning out to be , and we 're going for his military installations , and he 's got a lot of them , and it 's a wearing down process . The tornados highly effective runway - busting bombs carry a personal message to Saddam Hussein from the R A F. To keep the planes aloft , the ground crews work round the clock . They are all pumped up at the moment . There 's a lot of adrenalin flowing , and erm they realise that there are pink bodies on the line , and they take a great deal of care in preparing the outfit before they go .
Idiom: in the clear (used idiomatically: yes)
Grenadine . Grenadine . Well you just mix it together , it looks like something 's floating in some clear a clear water , really rough and you just knock it back . What was the other one ? Slow comfortable screw erm sex on a beach
Idiom: know the ropes (used idiomatically: yes)
Another factor adding to the uncertainty is the UK 's suspension from the ERM , which has awakened fears of further currency upheavals and made many European properties more expensive in sterling terms . For readers still able to afford a second home in Europe the most sensible advice is : do n't rush ; carefully study the conditions in the area chosen ; and obtain proper advice . ‘ It is easy to have the wool pulled over your eyes if you do n't know the ropes or do n't have someone reliable to operate for you,’ a contented owner of property in Portugal told me . Also , you need to be sure that your second home is reasonably accessible and that the cost does not overburden you . Martin Scannell of De Pinna , Scorers & John Venn ( 071–409 3188 ) said that in the late 1980s it was fashionable for UK citizens to buy property in France .
Idiom: boys in blue (used idiomatically: no)
‘ I am disheartened by C&A 's corporate clothing attitude and have decided that if the sleeve of my record must remain blank then I shall boycott C&A from now on , and my feet and bottom will remain bare until we settle this like grown men.’ Sticking with clothing , those hapless popsters OCEAN COLOUR SCENE are grieving over the loss of more than £ 2,000 worth of T - shirts which managed to fall out of the back of their van while they drove through the Moseley area of Birmingham last week . Phonogram are offering a reward of sorts for info about the shirts ' whereabouts and anyone who 's got something to say should give the boys in blue at Belgrade Road station a call on 021 626 4010 . ‘ Dangerous’ comedian BILL HICKS is among us again , playing lots and lots of outrageous concerts up and down the country . When he returns to the US he will start work on his first film script , which he describes as an allegorical tale about ELVIS PRESLEY actually being alive .
Idiom: bear fruit (used idiomatically: yes)
He advocated a unified central approach to budgeting and recommended above all that the State Control , the regime 's auditing body , be given access to the accounts of all government agencies . The tsar had good reason to listen to the advice of his financial experts , for not only were his finances in a desperate state but also he could not easily borrow on western markets so long as the empire 's accounting procedures remained inadequate . Many of the contemporary suggestions for improving the management of the empire 's finances bore fruit during Reitern 's first year as minister . The state began publishing its accounts . The government tried to drive out inflation by announcing that it was prepared to exchange paper money for specie .
Idiom: walk free (used idiomatically: yes)
The Bulgarian Communist Party politburo yesterday set up a top - level investigation into corruption under the deposed leader , Mr Todor Zhivkov , and fired his son as head of a party department . -AP . Green Berets walk free from Salvador siege . By Simon Tisdall in Washington THE siege of the Sheraton hotel in San Salvador ended without further bloodshed yesterday after 24 traumatic hours which underscored the difficulties and dangers bedevilling US policy in El Salvador .
Idiom: move the goalposts (used idiomatically: yes)
In 1991/92 the group reported a revenue surplus of £ 32 m ( v £ 44 m ) , earnings per share ( based on revenue profits ) of 13.6p ( v 17.9p ) and net assets per share diluted of 529p ( v 512p ) . FOOTBALL CLUBS Moving the goalposts The majority of first and second division football clubs deal with transfer fees through the p&l account ; only Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth put their players on the balance sheet . In a Survey of Significant Accounting Policies on Football Clubs , Touche Ross says that this is a reason why many clubs show big losses or severely depressed profit levels .
Idiom: off the shelf (used idiomatically: yes)
The complexity of the Sun , IBM and Motorola designs can also slow time - to - market : a six - month slip , such as Sun had with the SuperSparc , can make a new CPU suddenly uncompetitive . HEWLETT - PACKARD ANNOUNCEMENTS Peripherals customers get ingenious off - the - shelf shrink - wrapped HP SupportPack service package Hewlett - Packard Co has launched something it calls ' service - in - a - box ' for its peripherals product customers . The HP SupportPack is a three - year support package available through authorised resellers worldwide and designed to keep customers ' business operations up and running with assurance of next - day product replacement directly from Hewlett - Packard .
Idiom: no questions asked (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ All that stuff about community meant you could leave the kids with your mum if you had something to do , and you would n't grass on Charlie if the police came looking for him , and you could borrow ten bob to keep you going to the end of the week . But do n't run away with the idea it was all Jerusalem the Golden . There were a lot of very nasty people around , then as now , and if one of them turned up in no condition for a party , lying on the towpath , there was no questions asked.’ She stopped , wishing that she had n't said that , as an image of her brothers flickered across her mind . ‘ But Barbs is n't really a nasty one , not like that,’ said Scarlet .
Idiom: under the influence (used idiomatically: yes)
It is difficult enough to get a job without having a criminal record . Some drugs can lead to people committing crimes or behaving violently . To drive under the influence of any drug is an offence — and is dangerous . Money problems Continued use of drugs can be expensive , costing hundreds or even thousands of pounds a year .
Idiom: go places (used idiomatically: no)
‘ We know all the birds . The birds are our friends . We use them all the time for going places . That lady is taking her children to see their grandmother who lives in another forest about fifty miles away . They 'll be there in less than an hour.’
Idiom: by and large (used idiomatically: yes)
Labour needs to regain its working class support as well as modernising itself The people who will suffer most as a result of the Conservative election victory are not , by and large , readers of this magazine . Nor are they , by and large , members and activists of the defeated opposition parties , media commentators , pundits , academic analysts or psephologists , all of whom have representation aplenty in these pages this week . As ever , the people who will suffer from Labour 's failure are among those who are furthest removed from the political process ; who are most likely to believe that the outcome of the election has little to do with them ; and , hence , who are least likely to be taking part in the election postmortem on why Labour lost . The losers , let us remind ourselves , are the old , the sick , the jobless , the low paid , the homeless and badly housed , the ill - educated , the deprived , the discriminated - against — that third of our society that never shared in the maldistributed prosperity of the Thatcher years , and will at best gain little , at worst lose further , in John Major 's ‘ classless’ Britain .
Idiom: all over the place (used idiomatically: no)
We lost an awful lot of merchant vessels , and in any case we wanted those boats to bring armaments across , not food . So we 'd just jolly well got to grow enough to feed us . So of course,’ Dig for Victory’signs all over the place , you know everything was dug up : parks and gardens — everything , and a lot of the workmen had to be trained then to grow corn . And this is probably why some of the farmers I know . erm Fields were ploughed up that really never should be ploughed up .
Idiom: all along (used idiomatically: yes)
. It 's tree . It 's all along the back is n't it ? . Trouble is if we do n't lay a patio he .
Idiom: doom and gloom (used idiomatically: yes)
Creeds are only notices pointing in the direction in which deep down feelings and beliefs are taking us . No objective reality means no certainties and that means agnosticism . At first sight this is another version of the doom and gloom story . Trendy clerics selling out the faith of their fathers and sending away flocks with empty bellies . But the charge of a conspiracy among philosophers and theologians to take away the toys and joys of faith will not stick .
Idiom: by and large (used idiomatically: yes)
And yet , people were gradually torn from their moorings , grew used to lives in which they saw things their fathers had never done and even they had hardly expected to do . By the end of our period immigrants formed a substantial majority not only of countries like Australia , and of cities like New York and Chicago , but of Stockholm , Christiania ( the present Oslo ) , Budapest , Berlin and Rome ( between 55 and 60 per cent ) of Paris and Vienna ( c. 65 per cent ) . Cities and the new industrial areas were , by and large , the magnets which attracted them . What kind of life awaited them there ? Twelve
Idiom: keep someone in the dark (used idiomatically: yes)
' Generally people here can expect more - balanced advice on the best holiday for them and a wider choice than from many mainland agents . ' In a public survey , almost three out of four people thought that travel agents should give independent advice regardless of their financial links with any one operator , but only just over half , 54pc , thought this happened in practice . Holiday Which ? says it is concerned that consumers are being kept in the dark about the links between travel agents and the tour operators . Links None of the Lunn Poly or Thomas Cook branches had any signs informing customers of their links with tour operators .
Idiom: mean business (used idiomatically: yes)
Maybe they were out in the garden , walking around stiffly , expressionless as vacuum cleaners , as they prepared the Giant pod for Argol of the planet Tellenor . I had a feeling that , when Argol finally showed , he was going to look a lot more scary than Leo Pike . I had heard his soundbite , and he sounded like a man who meant business . Looking in front was n't really safe either . Suppose Argol , or someone like him , suddenly leaped out of someone 's driveway to give me a taste of his galaxy 's latest in combat weapons .
Idiom: up and running (used idiomatically: yes)
This is extraordinarily positive , and there is cause to thank the rapporteur , Mr Koch , for the work he has put in on this issue . This is also important where the prerequisites for the internal market are concerned . If we are to get a common transport market genuinely up and running , it is important that we should not only have regulations but that these regulations should also , as far as possible , apply to every country . I should like to conclude by commenting on a third matter which is also of significance , namely an amendment tabled by Member of Parliament , Mr Ari ~ Vatanen . In many ways , the prerequisites differ from one Member ~ State to another .
Idiom: word of mouth (used idiomatically: yes)
These tickets were produced en masse , though certain coffin - makers and funeral furnishers are known to have commissioned their own designs , with a central cartouche for the printed or hand - written details announcing the name of the deceased and the place , date and time of the funeral . Alternatively , they could be had ready - printed with blanks in the text for completion by the funeral furnisher . Whatever the method chosen , these invitations were issued only for the more important — i.e. expensive — funerals ; those of lesser rank had to rely on word of mouth . By around 1700 grave - clothes changed , probably as a result of the influence of the soft - goods trade in ready - made items , and adopted a form which was to last for the next seventy - five years . The winding - sheet with its top- and bottom - knots had been in steady decline during the last quarter of the seventeenth century , its place being taken by the open - backed long - sleeved shift with draw - strings at wrist and neck , either with or without an integral hood .
Idiom: duck soup (used idiomatically: no)
Charles drained his brandy . ' That 's Groucho 's line . Did you ever see Duck Soup ? There 's a Marx Brothers ' season at The Everyman . I 'll take you . '
Idiom: pick up the tab (used idiomatically: yes)
I take it you book me into that hotel . Well if you read that it 'll tell you exactly what will happen . Erm we will pay we will pick up the tab for your hotel . Okay . All right ?
Idiom: on the level (used idiomatically: yes)
Controlling per individual receipt and per profitability segment In the SM component , Controlling can be carried out on two levels according to requirements and problems : Controlling on the level of individual orders , contracts or projects
Idiom: behind bars (used idiomatically: yes)
You 'll never prosper , Paige , you have my word on that.’ She stared at him , knowing he had all the power he said he did . He would not rest until he saw her behind bars . It did n't matter that she was n't in the straits he believed her to be in ; his threat was enough to chill her blood . ‘ Poor Paige.’
Idiom: high and low (used idiomatically: no)
It should be clear by now that the speaker does not have a choice in the matter of the pitch of the syllables in the tail . This is completely determined by the choice of tone for the tonic syllable . 17.2 High and low heads The head was defined in the last chapter as ' all that part of a tone - unit that extends from the first stressed syllable up to , but not including , the tonic syllable ' . In our description of intonation up to this point , the only pitch contrasts found in the tone - unit are the different possible choices of tone for the tonic syllable .
Idiom: make tracks (used idiomatically: no)
It was absolutely nauseating to be involved with . The album did n't go smoothly at all . Mick Ronson , Woody Woodmansey and myself would be making backing tracks , having got the brief from David — it was E chord for 16 bars then an A chord for 4 bars and a B chord for 2 bars — and we were just banging out these backing tracks , and David would come into the studio , if we could tear him away from Angela for long enough and say whether he liked it or not . He was n't asleep ; it was just a very difficult time for him . He was juggling two different worlds .
Idiom: by the by (used idiomatically: yes)
Oh no . No . No that 's that 's completely gone by the by yeah , yeah . Folk seem to I do n't know have a different attitude completely . invitations to funerals lying somewhere .
Idiom: play ball (used idiomatically: yes)
Firstly Olga Morozova makes a point about taking the ball early . She finds our girls take the ball about 5 metres behind the baseline . They do this because they are not as quick as the opposition and want to give themselves as much time as possible to play the ball , no matter that they also give the other player more time . Our players are out not to lose , relying on others to make mistakes ; very few of our players have winning shots . The other was in the article by Alexandra McAdam Clark , in which she mentioned the number of courts available in France .
Idiom: under the microscope (used idiomatically: yes)
Najaar claims that it does not have any side - effects and that it does not affect the taste of food . But when a user smokes 12 , his mouth will taste like ‘ four dozen chewed - up cigars’ , Sizewell 's pressure vessel under the microscope THE CENTRAL Electricity Generating Board 's decision not to design the pressure vessel , the massive steel ‘ heart’ of its proposed pressurised water reactor at Sizewell , in larger components came under fire last week from two eminent nuclear engineers . Concern over the risk of stress , affecting the lengthy girth welds on the upper part of the pressure vessel , has prompted criticism from Dr David Leslie , professor of nuclear engineering at the University of London .
Idiom: in the long run (used idiomatically: yes)
There are two important fields of action in which we can work for the restoration of a vigorous and healthy economic life . On the one hand , we must use all possible means to regain old markets , to , open new ones up , and to encourage international trade on the basis of the division of labour ; and on the other , we must endeavour to awaken in British industry a spirit of joint endeavour … . The energetic pursuit of these two policies should in the long run ensure a substantial improvement in the employment situation . At the same time these results are likely to be slow , and if we are right in our conclusion that we are faced at the present time with a certain amount of abnormal employment of a quasi - permanent character , then it is not sufficient to solely rely on the gradual improvement of productive efficiency . Definite and energetic steps must be taken in other directions to restore the balance of our national economic life … .
Idiom: come of age (used idiomatically: yes)
Hindu disciple An Indian boy of Hindu parents was strongly influenced by Christian friends and himself became a committed follower of Christ . His parents , who were fair and liberal - minded people , were nonetheless confused and upset , and while giving Rajiv freedom to follow his convictions , they forbade him to be baptised until he had come of age . This caused Rajiv a great deal of turmoil , particularly as others of his friends had been baptised by immersion in the local Baptist church . An important change took place in Rajiv 's experience .
Idiom: pass the buck (used idiomatically: yes)
Several African heads of state , including Gbassingbe Eyadema of Togo , Omar Bongo of Gabon and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire have publicly acknowledged their Swiss bank accounts . ZAMBIA Passing the buck The Zambian government has banned the sale of unpasteurized milk direct from farmers to consumers because it may contain high concentrations of the pesticide dieldrin . Linked by the UN to cancer , dieldrin was recently the cause of a major meat export problem for Australia .
Idiom: in full swing (used idiomatically: yes)
Sally also said the fact that Lesley was prepared for danger may have helped her . ‘ As soon as she had the call to go to the scene , adrenalin would have started pouring into her bloodstream increasing her heart rate and alertness,’ she said . ‘ Her biological machinery was in full swing.’ Major 's worries WORRIED John Major called in an election expert over fears for his majority , it was revealed last night .
Idiom: around the clock (used idiomatically: yes)
Entering a different world … A BIG smile on your child 's face is the best holiday treat of all . And for fun- around -the- clock , there 's nothing to beat the good old British holiday park . Not so much of the old , though . Today 's sites are bang up-to-date — they 've got to be to match the amusements offered to youngsters on their own doorstep .
Idiom: high and low (used idiomatically: yes)
In the low head the stressed syllable which begins the head is low in pitch ; usually it is lower than the beginning pitch of the tone on the tonic syllable . As an example , the heads of the above sentences will be changed from high to low : The two different versions ( high and low head ) will usually sound slightly different to English listeners , though it it not easy to say just what the difference is , as will be made clear in the next chapter . It is usual for unstressed syllables to continue the pitch of the stressed syllable that precedes them . In the following example , the three unstressed syllables ‘ if it had’ continue at the same pitch as the stressed syllable ‘ asked’ :
Idiom: dyed in the wool (used idiomatically: yes)
On then through a majestic , but by no means pompous Fantasia and its tremendously witty , quicksilver Fugue , to a compulsive and dazzling Toccata in F and ending with as powerful and seamlessly fluent account of the Passacaglia as anyone could wish for . These four ‘ great’ works receive unarguably great performances . Preston 's playing is so vivacious , his enthusiasm for the music so stimulating and his obvious enjoyment in playing this marvellous instrument ( which the DG engineers have recorded with something well into the demonstration category ) so infectious that I doubt even the most dyed - in - the - wool hater of organ music could fail to be won over to the cause . It helps that Preston relies on the musical conviction of his playing and his impeccable technique to get his message across ; thankfully we are spared any of the acts of registrative trickery , especially in the C major Toccata , which lesser organists so often impose on the music in a feeble attempt to inject artificial stimulants into their performances . This is the real thing , it has no need for added colour or flavourings .
Idiom: all along (used idiomatically: yes)
" The Old Man told me . " " WHAT ! " " He 's known all along . He knew when he fired you . " I sat with my mouth open .