Gooogr/pie_idioms huggingface dataset:
Idiom: pull someone's leg (used idiomatically: yes)
No , blast , I 'm stuck … amidships . My damned hips … . ‘ I 'll pull your legs.’ ‘ No , do n't . Push 'em .
Idiom: steer clear of (used idiomatically: yes)
Unusually , there was a meeting on the British side about how to handle it . Garvin was there , Commandant of the Cairo Police and Owen 's nominal superior ; McPhee , Deputy Commandant , earnest , concerned and straightforward — too straightforward by half to be a Cairo policeman and far too straightforward for something like this ; Paul , an aide - de - camp of the Consul - General 's ; and Owen . The Consul - General usually steered clear of too direct an involvement in Egyptian policing . Garvin reported formally to the Khedive — and the Consul - General was punctilious about the forms . He was particularly careful of any involvement with the Mamur Zapt , which was why Owen not only reported formally to the Khedive but was nominally subordinate to Garvin .
Idiom: on the warpath (used idiomatically: yes)
The rape led to new calls for an end to chatlines . Labour MP Terry Lewis said : ‘ How many more women must suffer?’ Wario on the warpath YOU'VE heard of Mario . Now it 's time to meet Wario — the latest challenger to the world famous Nintendo hero .
Idiom: once and for all (used idiomatically: no)
If this is not the case , then explicit communication is simply ‘ cheap talk’ . This is most easily seen in the context of a market which takes place only once . For example , suppose that a government wishes to sell off , once and for all , the mineral rights on a tract of land and invites sealed bids which will specify required acreage and a price per acre . There are just two firms which will bid , though the minerals extracted will subsequently be sold on a competitive world market . Each firm knows that the value of the land is £ 100 per acre , and knows the other knows this and that the government does not .
Idiom: rare bird (used idiomatically: yes)
Cartwright was remanded in custody for seven days . The two - minute hearing passed without trouble . Victims of the rare bird trade A SMUGGLING racket is killing thousands of exotic birds each year , say undercover investigators . Spies working for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds found that Tanzanian traders routinely forge export papers to the UK , despite tough laws in their own country .
Idiom: clutch at straws (used idiomatically: yes)
Munich became synonymous in Nizan 's vocabulary with the abandonment of the principles of collective security , the deliberate mystification of nation states , appeasement , acquiescence and capitulation to fascist oppression and death . With the fall of Madrid in March 1939,118 and the worsening situation in Poland,"19 Nizan 's attitude became progressively more desperate , more frenetic . In this context of impending war , Nizan began clutching at straws . Miraculously , during the early months of 1939 , the much vaunted tripartite agreement between France , Great Britain and the USSR , the cornerstone of collective security and peace , seemed somehow to be within grasp . It is ironic , in retrospect , that Nizan 's leading article announcing the seemingly miraculous news was published on 1 April 1939 .
Idiom: fit the bill (used idiomatically: yes)
I wove four of Joyce 's characters into one cocktail party scene , ducking in and out of each character in an attempt to fill the stage with people . It required enormous concentration and a lot of physical changes — each one accompanied by different music . It was dead right but it gave me a tough act to follow and only Joyce 's famous ‘ George , do n't do that’ would fit the bill . In a way this was the hardest to get right . I could almost always hear her voice in my ear throughout most of the sketches , but the subtlety of her nursery school teacher would often escape me .
Idiom: spot on (used idiomatically: yes)
Place the red cake ( the toadstool ) on top of the stalk , securing with a little royal icing or water . 5 Roll out a little white fondant and , with different sized cutters , cut out various sizes of circle for the spots on the toadstool . Stick them with a dampened paint brush all over the top of the cake . 6
Idiom: nuts and bolts (used idiomatically: yes)
Your job , however , is to mend any plausible cracks you observe — to do a better survey , measuring and controlling important new variables — not to walk away from the edifice declaring it to be a hazard . Be sure to remember how poor lay reasoning about causation is : not to even try to collect the data required to test a hypothesis about the relationship between smoking and lung cancer would be to leave the doors open only to those who jump to conclusions on the basis of a sample of one . Those of you who have been fingering your calculator buttons anxiously can now relax : the excursion into philosophy is over , and we return to the nuts and bolts of describing patterns in batches of numbers . But take with you the lessons of this chapter . In the absence of an experiment , a statistical effect of one variable on another can not just be accepted as causal at face value .
Idiom: make a splash (used idiomatically: yes)
The systems will initially include two CPUs and be capable of handling about 150 transactions per second , the paper said . SUN SIGNS UP MORE PRE - PRESS VENDORS Sun Microsystems is beginning to make a splash in the pre - press business . Last week , six pre - press software and systems vendors lined up to endorse the Sparc / Solaris platform : they include Crosfield Electronics Ltd , Digital Technology International , DuPont / Camex , ECRM , Linotype - Hell and System Integrators Inc. Their products will be used for output and production flow management , display ad make - up , spot and process colour imaging , raster image processing and database management .
Idiom: come to think of it (used idiomatically: yes)
The termagant was right ' he was getting rather overweight . " I want to know more about you . Come to think of it , I did hear that those nuns had caught themselves a gypsy . That 's you , I suppose ? " " Yes , but that is n't your business either . "
Idiom: close shave (used idiomatically: no)
‘ We 'll have seen parts of the world we would never have had the chance to visit otherwise , and we 'll have been a lot luckier than most.’ Billboard Music awards ACTOR Bruce Willis , above , had a close shave at Hollywood 's Billboard Music awards but his severely cropped hair gave him plenty to laugh about . Singer Billy Ray Cyrus and model Christie Brinkley , below left , went for hands - on - hips poses and Beverly Hills 90210 star Shannen Doherty , below right , managed a smile despite being booed off stage . U2 's Achtung Baby album won five trophies but they stayed home — preferring to celebrate in their favourite Dublin pub instead .
Idiom: in the family way (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah , definitely ! How are you ? I hear you 're er in the family way again . Yeah , I know . You dirty people !
Idiom: for keeps (used idiomatically: yes)
You wo n't see him at that price again for a very long time . He 's really striking the ball well and he has got his confidence back.’ William Hill have already reacted by installing him as 5 - 2 favourite to win the world after his record fifth successive victory in the Masters , a performance which earned him the gold trophy for keeps . Hendry will be hoping for a repeat of his Masters success at the £ 150,000 European Open , which gets under way in Antwerp today . Whatever happens , the Scot , who meets Dennis Taylor in the last 16 , is guaranteed to leapfrog back over Jimmy White into first place on the provisional world ranking list .
Idiom: straight from the shoulder (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Oh.’ He sat back in his chair . ‘ Well , that 's straight from the shoulder . And I can recognise the reason … .’ ‘ You can't!’
Idiom: come to mind (used idiomatically: yes)
In making time to provide reflection the head not only has to be clear about the relative priority of helping out , taking on chores and providing workaday leadership but also has to have confidence in the extent to which his or her colleagues expect leadership . To think about this in terms of the relative roles of heads and other teachers is in the words of Campbell ( 1985:154—7 ) insubstantial and dated . His preference for examining collegiality and for finding its stumbling blocks in the conditions in which primary - school teachers have to work seems more appropriate when real schools come to mind . Staffrooms , for instance , are used during break - times , before and after school and during the lunch hour . Their furnishing is seldom above the spartan level and the main focus of activity is made up of jars of instant coffee , electric kettles , a sink and a draining board .
Idiom: in the can (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah . Erm Put it in the can bank at the ti I 'll put the the back one on and and just boil the the water . Anyway , I 'll go and give mum and dad a quick ring and then let them know .
Idiom: on the money (used idiomatically: yes)
If that were the case then rugby , the high profile student sport , would lose out financially . Alun Evans , secretary of the Welsh football association who doubles up as chairman of the UAU committee , said : ' I was informed by the chairman of the UAU rugby committee that he was discussing the possible sponsorship of its championship and I received a copy of a proposal … it contained a number of features which were not acceptable to the union and it was therefore with great surprise that we learned a launch for the sponsorship had been called and it was decided that the union could not agree to this action . ' While UAU rugby has lost out on money , Blackheath have lost the services of their coach , Alex Keay . ' He 's having a sabbatical while he sorts things out , ' Paul Rossiter - Marvell , the club 's secretary , said yesterday . ' We 've now got more coaches at the club than National Express , but he can come back if he wants to .
Idiom: one of those things (used idiomatically: no)
' I do n't have a back garden . ' ' Neither does Neptune Court . It 's a block of council flats , probably one of those redbrick Edwardian things , with a court in the middle and a service road down the back . Front doors open onto long balconies with iron railings covered in damp washing and snotty little kids dribbling on your head through the bars . ' Maxim grinned , surprised less by George 's attitude than by his knowledge of such parts of London .
Idiom: over the top (used idiomatically: yes)
I 'll keep the technical details to a minimum , but I must say a word or two about Carvin 's ‘ Tube Cascade’ principle . The Quad X contains no less than nine 12AX7 valves which have been coupled together to provide a more complex , hence richer , overdrive . Other preamps have at least two coupled stages , but nine seems seriously over the top and promises something totally outrageous in the old fire and brimstone department . FS-77 FOOTSWITCH This unit really speaks for itself .
Idiom: one of those things (used idiomatically: yes)
It 's already a fortnight since my birthday — life seems to get ‘ hecticker’ and ‘ hecticker’ . Thank you very much indeed for your card and the £ 25 , with which I have decided to buy some pinking shears , to encourage me to do some dressmaking now that summer is ( supposedly ) not far away . I 've no idea how much they cost , but whatever 's left over will go towards the kitchen scissors — rather mundane I know but one of those things that 's not exactly necessary but once you 've got it you ca n't do without ! Today is an Edinburgh holiday and so I have a day off — a good opportunity to catch up with various things , and the plumber is arriving shortly to re - seal my bath . I did it myself a while ago but the silicone has gone rather mouldy and I thought he would make a better job !
Idiom: foot the bill (used idiomatically: yes)
The German - American Academic Council was set up this month on the initiative of Germany to support projects and exchanges in science , including social science , and technology . The council will be sponsored by three major research organizations in Germany — the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ( DFG ) , the Max Planck Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation — and in the United States by the National Academy of Sciences , the American Council of Learned Societies , the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Social Sciences Research Council . So far , Germany of footing the entire bill . The German Ministry for Research and Technology has committed DM18.1 million ( US$ 11.5 million ) over the next four years . US sponsors are being sought among the various private research foundations , but according to Reimar Lüst , president of the Humboldt Foundation , ' there is no hurry , the council has enough money to get started ' .
Idiom: in the long term (used idiomatically: yes)
Under the new Mental Health Act , passed last year , a patient who objects to treatment is now guaranteed a second opinion — but treatment still goes ahead if both doctors agree . Nurses and doctors are legally entitled to refuse to perform an abortion , but the unions representing nurses seem reluctant to lobby for a similar right to object to ECT . ‘ The worry is probably what else you could object to , in the long - term drug therapy , for instance,’ says Simon Hebditch of MIND . MPs are beginning to take an interest in the issue . Last June David Ennals tried to introduce an amendment to the Mental Health Act which would have allowed nurses to withdraw from ECT .
Idiom: for the time being (used idiomatically: yes)
( 1981 ) conducted several experiments ( Fig . 3.8(a ) constitutes an example ) that allowed the relevant comparison and all agreed in showing that the latent inhibition seen at 4 h was just as profound after brief exposure as after lengthy exposure . They have no explanation to offer apart from the speculation that there might be an incompatibility between the two sources of latent inhibition allowed by Wagner 's account , with the short - term version being developed only in conditions that preclude the development of the associative version . There is no evidence bearing on this suggestion and the matter must remain unresolved for the time being . We can conclude only that unequivocal evidence for the existence of the special short - term version of latent inhibition posited by Wagner 's theory has yet to emerge . Such evidence as there is derives from the studies by Westbrook et al .
Idiom: off the hook (used idiomatically: yes)
Designed to whet your appetite Sit down . Take the phone off the hook . Clear your mind of all distraction . This is one page you have to read , and read carefully .
Idiom: live and let live (used idiomatically: no)
Hawks and pigeons share 99.99 per cent identical components of their cells and of their genetic orders , but the way in which these components are assembled separates the two groups into individual and antagonistic needs and behaviours . Hawks , pigeons and I share an astonishingly similar set of components and mechanisms and we share the same world . I can not accept that I should adopt a live - and - let - live neutral attitude to hawks and pigeons even though I accept the fact that we share very similar body mechanisms and an identical world . Nor can I accept that it is my duty to reform hawks and pigeons so that they become well - behaved social humans where the hawks stop grabbing baby pigeons and the pigeons stop nicking my peas . How then am I to resolve the morass of conflicting needs and interests of myself and my fellow animals ?
Idiom: on the square (used idiomatically: no)
The senior recruits have gone out with their visitors , before they return to pack ready for their departure to their trade training in the morning . The students on the Corporals ' course have solved most of the command tasks and have returned to their syndicate rooms to be debriefed . The Adjutant is back at her desk as a helicopter lands on the square . It is not the one to collect maps , but a VIP helicopter bearing the Minister to the Armed Forces . The Adjutant hastens out to see him to his car , which is waiting on the edge of the square .
Idiom: ride high (used idiomatically: no)
Voice over Hereford 's away day to the seaside started promisingly , but they missed their chances and ended up at all at sea . Blackpool are riding high in Division Four , while United have slowly sunk down the table . So it was no surprise to see the Seasiders have the best of the chances . Hereford lived dangerously but by half time were still managing to keep afloat .
Idiom: up and running (used idiomatically: yes)
Mr Castro , at 61 , is undisposed to change his ways . Mr Gorbachev understandably fights shy of an open quarrel but must now decide how to cut the political and economic costs of the alliance . Russian sources have recently been making it clear that once current investment projects are up and running Cuba will get little more direct financial assistance . Most Russian aid to Cuba comes in the form of subsidised purchases of sugar , nickel and citrus fruit , and cheap sales of more oil than Cuba needs : it sells the surplus for hard currency . The Americans , who are inclined to guess high , reckon that all this is worth $ 4 billion-$5 billion a year .
Idiom: on the cards (used idiomatically: no)
If in doubt , ask your insurance agent — and read your policy before disaster strikes . DELTA DEBIT CARDS Yet another logo has appeared on the plastic card scene — Visa Delta 's interlinking triangles . You 'll see it outside shops and on your Visa Delta debit card when it comes up for renewal . Visa Delta is a debit card network linked with the Visa credit card network .
Idiom: out of this world (used idiomatically: yes)
His Big Night Out programme on Channel Four has built up a cult following . Last month Vic and his sidekick , former Middlesbrough solicitor Bob Mortimer , were voted the most original performers in the BAFTA awards . STUDENTS at Marton Sixth Form College , Middlesbrough , have cultivated a show that 's out of this world . The curtain went up last night on The Little Shop of Horrors . Audrey Two , the monster plant , expands on stage again tonight and tomorrow night at 7.30pm looking for tasty human morsels to eat .
Idiom: bear in mind (used idiomatically: yes)
It was a momentous trip . He set off while it was still night , at three in the morning . Bearing in mind his liking for nocturnal walks , one can imagine his excitement . They travelled along a road banked up with mud , called a ' diek ' in these parts . It was even better than going by barge .
Idiom: turn heads (used idiomatically: no)
If he heard anything he would not dream of doing anything about it but would go on gazing indifferently over the heads of his sheep . They left him looking up at the sky again . He did n't turn his head to look after them and he was so still that even at a short distance they could no longer distinguish him from his surroundings . When they got back to the farmyard the Substitute had vanished . They could hear his rapid speech and then the fat shepherdess 's delighted scream of laughter .
Idiom: nine times out of ten (used idiomatically: yes)
Yeah , nine times out of ten Who was that , who was nine times out of ten these It 's just body work Well the engine erm between cars
Idiom: behind someone's back (used idiomatically: yes)
‘ Welcome aboard ! In which other departmental establishments have you previously served?’ ‘ Out Patients and the General Theatre , Sister,’ I replied , resisting the urge to salute by holding my hands more tightly behind my back in the correct position for any Benedict 's nurse when talking to a senior . ‘ Both'll help you here , if not very much . You 've been sent to join my Accident Recovery Room team as soon as possible , but I refuse to allow my gals near my .
Idiom: kick the habit (used idiomatically: yes)
He 's been in the wars a bit since his racing career . He was one of my childhood heroes , a marvellous jockey and a great chap . He 's been on the sauce basically but he 's kicked the habit and he says of kicking the drinking habit I 've had a lot of help and a lot of good counselling , in the end it 's up to me . I do n't want to be complacent but since March I seem to be winning . Well that 's great news .
Idiom: put a foot wrong (used idiomatically: yes)
But in the fifty eighth minute , Donny Roumain dispossessed the Hounslow keeper wide out on the edge of the penalty area . He squared the ball into the centre where Kenny completely mis - kicked and he was relieved when the ball wobbled slowly into the empty net to put United two goals up . Hounslow then began to play like a team that were third in the table , forcing United 's mid - field backwards , only to come against Shepherd and Wilson in the centre of United 's defence , neither of whom put a foot wrong all afternoon . The nearest Hounslow came to scoring was not until the eightieth minute when Keith Hoad headed narrowly wide from a Mark Francis cross . But Hounslow 's fate was sealed in the eighty eighth minute when Darren Rogers scored from twelve yards after Wayne Green had left his marker for dead , sweeping by him for twenty yards .
Idiom: out of the woods (used idiomatically: no)
But in , in a lot of instances , to answer you , I had to use me ingenuity . What I want and er how to get it . I could n't tell you how , but it I , cos you 'd , I do n't want nothing , but when I did , I 'd got ta use my ingenuity to get something that I could get one or two or a dozen or ten off , you know what I mean , and I got ta make it and a lot of times I made it out of wood which was easily er you know treated . Then you could get a , a piece of wood very , very rough , understand me and then cast and then you could get the cast in down to exaction , you follow what I mean and then er you could what you want . But I started off wood , nearly , nearly in every instance .
Idiom: play games (used idiomatically: yes)
He was soon bringing his skills to bear for his country , too , especially in Australia in 1986–7 . Not content with just the interminable Benson and Hedges World Series Cup , the players also had to fit in the Benson and Hedges Challenge between the fourth and fifth Tests , a jamboree dreamed up to latch on to the sporting frenzy which the TV and marketing people had decreed would seize the nation when the America 's Cup yacht races were staged off Fremantle . At least there was no travelling as all the games were played in Perth . Australia , England , West Indies and Pakistan would play each other mercifully just once , and the two top teams would then meet in a final . Since Gatting and his troops had retained the Ashes just a few days beforehand , they were ready to take on all comers .
Idiom: back to square one (used idiomatically: yes)
It 's also refused to approve an alternative route to the West , telling the planners they must think again . Male speaker It 's back to square one . We 'll have to consult and go to another inquiry . Voice over
Idiom: take a back seat (used idiomatically: yes)
Zaire 's fledgling democracy continues to flounder as oppression and censorship are openly employed by President Mobutu Sese - Seko 's government to silence opponents and critics . The churches , however , are doing all they can to encourage as much dialogue as possible and to ensure that effective communication plays a key role in the democratic process . Despite the recent assault on its Director of Communication , the Church of Christ ( Eglise du Christ ) in Zaire is refusing to take a back seat in the process . Before Christmas , it plans to invite 40 pastors and community leaders from throughout Zaire to take part in a seven day seminar entitled ‘ Communication and the Democratic Process’ . The seminar , which will be organised with WACC support , aims to help participants to be aware of the vital role of communication in the transition to democracy , and to encourage them to do all they can in their country 's struggle for peace and justice .