cakewalk
noun

- something that is very easy to achieve

- a one-sided contest, an easy victory

Cambridge Dictionary / Merriam-Webster

—
WORD ORIGIN

The cakewalk was a pre-Civil War dance originally performed by slaves on plantation grounds. The uniquely American dance was first known as the “prize walk”; the prize was an elaborately decorated cake.

The cakewalk was so ingrained in American popular culture and entertainment that beginning in 1892, local cakewalk championships were being held in New York’s Madison Square Garden, which hosted a national championship in 1897. The dance had been exported to Europe a few years earlier when it was performed in 1889 at the Paris World’s Fair.

As cakewalk dances became more popular, they gave rise to their own form of music, an early predecessor of what’s now known as ragtime. With the increase in popularity, the dance became something of a crossover hit, and started being performed by whites and blacks alike.

—
MORE CAKEY PHRASES

- as nutty as a fruitcake = crazy or wacky (usually used humorously)

- sell like hot cakes = to sell very quickly and in large quantities

- that takes the cake! = to be the worst in a series of negative actions

- the icing on the cake = an additional benefit or positive aspect to something that is already considered positive or beneficial

- you can’t have your cake and eat it = you cannot have or do two things that are both desirable but normally contradictory or impossible to have or do simultaneously

—
SYNONYMS

- something that is easily done or accomplished

breeze, CAKEWALK, child’s play, cinch, cruise, cushy number, doddle, duck soup, easy as pie, easy ride, five-finger exercise, good time, gravy train, joy ride, kid stuff, lark, light work, like taking candy from a baby, money for old rope, no-brainer, no trouble, one-horse race, party, picnic, plum job, pushover, setup, smooth sailing, snap, snip, soft touch, sure thing, turkey shoot, walk in the park, walkover

—
SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“The English test was a CAKEWALK for Markus, he grew up in the UK.”

—
THANKS to Herbert for suggesting today’s word.

—
HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

and,

Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40