take the liberty of

Idioms  

1. Act on one's own authority without permission from another, as in I took the liberty of forwarding the mail to his summer address. It is also put as take the liberty to, as in He took the liberty to address the Governor by her first name. This rather formal locution was first recorded in 1625 and does not imply the opprobrium of the similar-sounding take liberties.

---

Example Sentences

But I’ll take the liberty of presuming Mackey was clumsily trying to say that if Americans did a better job of watching their diets and staying in shape, they’d spend less time at the doctor’s office.

From Los Angeles Times

Basketball has sadly never succeeded in transmitting the depths of its rich history as well as baseball has, so I hesitate to take the liberty of assuming that younger fans know most of what happened next.

From New York Times

In his first letter to her, dated Feb. 6, 1907, he wrote: “It is not often that I can have the privilege of meeting anyone whom I can so entirely admire and enjoy, and I take the liberty of writing you this little note to thank you for the pleasure you have given me.”

From Washington Post

"I joke that it's lucky I'm not a man or I'd have been reported," she says, "because I take the liberty of going round the street, spotting a girl, looking her up and down from behind, and thinking, 'Mm, that dress would fit her perfectly.'"

From BBC

“Now that he’s gone, let’s take the liberty of contradicting him, and keep his memory alive in our hearts, our thoughts, and our actions. As he would have wished it, let us always Burn the Man.”

From Washington Post