To be in the same (usually unpleasant) situation as someone else or other people
Answer:
probaly conformity the girls were all dancing I'm the woods alone doing something which they weren't supposed to, therefore the girls played it up as witch craft so they wouldn't get into trouble, the faint is clearly a part of this act, betty was in fear of her uncle because it would bring shame and trouble to her name. This is most likely an effort for the girls to conform into society without being seen as vile heathens in society.
The mentioned statement from Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal can best be described as hyperbolic and ironic. It is hyperbolic in the sense that buying infant flesh (and as implied, eating them) is an over exaggerated solution to the problem being discussed. It is also ironic because Swift is proposing to eat the infants so that they won't have to die of malnutrition and diseases.
