the WAY - ENGLISH blog -: A piece of cakeTHAT'S A PIECE OF CAKE -- Something...

the WAY - ENGLISH blog -: A piece of cakeTHAT'S A PIECE OF CAKE -- Something...: A piece of cake THAT'S A PIECE OF CAKE -- Something that can be done easily and pleasurably. It is a famous English saying. I reckon...

A piece of cake

THAT'S A PIECE OF CAKE -- Something that can be done easily and pleasurably. It is a famous English saying. I reckon that most English language students, teachers and even readers have encountered with this saying many times or even for one time. It certainly derives from the fact that for most people eating a piece of cake is easy and a joy." " From "The Dictionary of Cliches" by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985). I believe that the expressions relate to the "good life" of sitting around eating dessert - rather than a reference to the ease of making and baking.

The "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman says that: "It's a piece of cake - It's very easy to do. First used in the mid-twentieth century. During World War II, British soldiers used the expression to describe a mission that was extremely easy to accomplish."

: : However, the "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1977) give America the credit for originating the phrase. Mr. and Mrs. Morris also give the origin of "easy as pie."

"piece of cake/easy as pie - The two expressions are remarkably alike in meaning. 'As easy as pie' is an American expression. Back in the 1890s 'pie' was a common slang expression meaning anything easy, a cinch; the expression easy as pie stemmed quite readily from that. A 'piece of cake' has a somewhat more devious history. According to the Oxford Dictionary, it first appeared in print in a work by Ogden Nash, who wrote in 1936: 'Her picture's in the papers now, and life's a piece of cake.' But, if it first turned up in America, it was swiftly adopted by British airmen in World War II. In 1943 the author of 'Spitfires over Malta' wrote: 'The mass raids promised to be a 'piece of cake' and we expected to take a heavy toll.' Certainly 'piece of cake' was more originally more popular in Britain than in the United States."