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let them eat cake

idiom
Meaning

Used to express a profound disconnect between the elite and the unprivileged or underprivileged, suggesting a callous indifference or detachment to their suffering.


Origin

Calque of French qu'ils mangent de la brioche. Incorrectly attributed to the last Queen of France prior to the French Revolution Marie Antoinette (1755–1793), the phrase actually originates from Confessions (Rousseau).

Examples
SIMPLE

The politician ignores the poor and basically says let them eat cake.

CONTEXTUAL

When the CEO suggested that workers should just walk to work during the transit strike, his attitude was a classic case of let them eat cake.

COMPLEX

The aristocrat’s dismissive response to the famine, which essentially told the starving masses to let them eat cake, ignited the fury of the revolution.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    bite to eat

    A snack or quick meal.

  2. 02

    buy to let

    To purchase a property as in investment, and to let it out for rental instead of living in it

  3. 03

    cake and gingerbread

    An easy or pleasant task or experience; a piece of cake.

  4. 04

    cake crumbs

    Hardly anything.

  5. 05

    cake walk

    Something extremely easy.

  6. 06

    don't let the door hit you on the way out

    Used as a command to leave in haste, or to indicate that one is glad, or at least unmoved, to see the addressed person leaving.

  7. 07

    don't shit where you eat

    One should not cause trouble in places, groups, or situations that one holds as important or necessary to one's happiness or well-being.

  8. 08

    eat an elephant one bite at a time

    To do something one step at a time; to do something in steps rather than all at once.

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