Modest Proposal
What Does "Modest Proposal" Mean?
"Modest proposal" is an English idiom. It means "a suggestion that is not modest at all." It is often used ironically. The term comes from Jonathan Swift's satirical essay "A Modest Proposal," where he suggested that the poor sell their children as food.Examples in Sentences
Here are three examples of the idiom "modest proposal" used in a sentence:- As a modest proposal, why don't we just sell the company?
- His 'modest proposal' was to simply eliminate all the regulations.
- Given the context of Swift's essay, the senator's 'modest proposal' was clearly meant to be taken ironically.
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