[lbo-talk] Etymology of cakewalk

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Tue Dec 5 12:11:47 PST 2006


[It was originally a parody of strutting slavemasters. For me that somehow adds a poetic -- or poetic justice -- resonance to the idea that Iraq was supposed to be one.]

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Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cakewalk

This week's theme: desserts used metaphorically.

cakewalk (KAYK-wok) noun

Something very easy to do, having little or no opposition.

[In the 19th century, cakewalk was a popular contest among slaves on the American plantations. It was a strutting dance, developed as a parody of white owners, in which couples with the most stylish steps won a cake as a prize. The dance may or may not have been easy but it was certainly a lot of fun, and eventually the term cakewalk begin to be used to refer to anything easy to do. The idiom "to take the cake" has the same origin.]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=cakewalk

-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)

"With a celebrated line-up, IOC were clear favourites. But even they

would not have expected a cakewalk."

Uthra Ganesan; SRC Slip on Indian Oil, Army draw; Hindustan Times

(New Delhi, India); Nov 18, 2006.

Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/cakewalk.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/cakewalk.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/cakewalk.html



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