modest proposal
2
5.3
- noun
- /ˈmɒdɪst prəˈpoʊzəl/
:
propuesta modesta
- So here is a modest proposal for West Virginia.
- four modest proposals
Examples
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I would like to present a modest proposal to improve our community's recycling program.
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I have a modest proposal to make.
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I have a modest proposal to deal with this problem:
Blog text (28) -
I'm sure my modest proposal will be rejected, but the alternatives offer only more of the same.
Blog text (20) -
The few modest proposals to emerge from the multi-year study are, for the most part, fine as far as they go.
Academic text (2017) -
A modest proposal: The City of Oakland and the Oakland Coliseum should issue fee vouchers to all affected parties.
Blog text (1) -
I offer four modest proposals to revise the question of eucharistic sharing for Catholic ministers and authorities.
Academic text (2002) -
Finally, permit me to offer a modest proposal—one that would require no small dose of philanthropic support and administrative imagination.
Academic text (2017) -
After much consideration, she decided to write a modest proposal to enhance the local park.
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His modest proposal for increasing public transport access was well received by the city council.
Synonyms
817
2.9
A plan or suggestion put forward for others to consider
759
1.4
An idea or plan offered for others to consider
3
4.2
To suggest a plan or idea to someone
How Ambitious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a simple or moderate suggestion' is directly and compositionally derived from 'modest' (limited, moderate) + 'proposal' (suggested plan). This adjective+noun pattern is standard and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the MWE's sense (aside from the specific ironic cultural reference to Swift's A Modest Proposal, which is a separate literary allusion).
Etymology
The phrase modest proposal may come from Jonathan Swift's 1729 short essay 'A Modest Proposal', where he suggested a shocking idea and called it modest to make it sound small and sensible. That's why people now use modest proposal to mean 'a small, careful suggestion'.