A.Word.A.Day		About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us

Home Today's Word Yesterday's Word Archives FAQ

Discuss Email this Feedback RSS/XML Permalink 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. -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. X-Bonus Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law. -Louis D. Brandeis, lawyer, judge, and writer (1856-1941)

Subscribe: Sign up to receive A.Word.A.Day in your mailbox every day. "The most welcomed, most enduring piece of daily mass e-mail in cyberspace." -The New York Times  Sponsored by: Give the Gift of Words Share the magic of words. Send a gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day. Anu on Words: Writer Magazine SF Gate SF Gate Globe & Mail  Interact: Bulletin board Wordsmith Talk Moderated Chat Wordsmith Chat Readers' Voice AWADmail