This is my second ‘Idiom of the Week’ post and this week it is “A Piece of Cake”

The meaning of “a Piece of Cake” is when an activity that requires little effort to finish; a job that’s simple; easy. Or it could be when a task is easier to complete than previously expected.

However, the origin of the phase is just to be an expression to show the idea of simplicity. The question is: Why? What makes cake “easy,” anyways? Well, I doubt it’s referring to the cooking process involved with baking a cake, because whenever I make a cake (in any shape or form) it requires me to put in a fair bit of work. I have to crack eggs, mix them up in a bowl with flour and sugar, then set the temperature of the oven etc etc.

Okay, Okay I know that is not complicated, but it still requires me (and others) to put in some effort, so much so that some people don’t even care to bother with it. Which, can be me most of the time…I always make a mess when I am baking and I REALLY hate washing up!

Eating a cake, is much easier! I love eating cake as it tastes AMAZING. It is believe that this phrase goes back to at least the 1930s. The term is used by an American poet named Ogden Nash, who wrote Primrose Path in 1936. There’s a quote from it that reads:

“Her picture’s in the papers now, And life’s a piece of cake.”