I have found only one brief reference in an etymology book that I have. I am paraphrasing here... It says that it may have originated in the 1860s from the practice of giving the winner of a "walking contest" a cake. Sometime around the late 1800s is got the meaning "something easy."
cakewalk
cakewalk
I have been trying to find the origin of the work Cakewalk. Does anyone have some information?
I have found only one brief reference in an etymology book that I have. I am paraphrasing here... It says that it may have originated in the 1860s from the practice of giving the winner of a "walking contest" a cake. Sometime around the late 1800s is got the meaning "something easy."
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I have found only one brief reference in an etymology book that I have. I am paraphrasing here... It says that it may have originated in the 1860s from the practice of giving the winner of a "walking contest" a cake. Sometime around the late 1800s is got the meaning "something easy."
Submitted by Bill Bates (San Jose - U.S.A.)
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Cakewalk?
Well, I kept searching and I have found confirmation of my etymology book and a lot more explanation. Without trying to explain it all here, for those interested, here is a good resource for the word...
http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3cake1.htm
Thanks...
Bill
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http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3cake1.htm
Thanks...
Bill
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Cakewalk?
I'm just guessing here, Bill, but I'd bet the modern meaning derives from the older "cakewalk." Here in the Midwest, one can still occasionally find a cakewalk, usually at a fall festival or county fair. All the participants (who each pay a small fee) walk around a numbered circle until the music stops (kind of like musical chairs). Then, a number is drawn; whoever is standing on that number wins a cake. Since the only requirement for winning a cake is knowing how to walk (and how to stop), it's a pretty easy contest to win. Eventually, the term "cakewalk" came to mean anything that was extremely easy.
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Reply from K Allen Griffy (Springfield, IL - U.S.A.)
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Cakewalk?
cake·walk (kāk'wôk')
n.
Something easily accomplished: Winning the race was a cakewalk for her.
A 19th-century public entertainment among African Americans in which walkers performing the most accomplished or amusing steps won cakes as prizes.
A strutting dance, often performed in minstrel shows.
The music for this dance.
intr.v., -walked, -walk·ing, -walks.
To perform a strutting dance.
cake'walk'er n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Leif, WA, USA
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n.
Something easily accomplished: Winning the race was a cakewalk for her.
A 19th-century public entertainment among African Americans in which walkers performing the most accomplished or amusing steps won cakes as prizes.
A strutting dance, often performed in minstrel shows.
The music for this dance.
intr.v., -walked, -walk·ing, -walks.
To perform a strutting dance.
cake'walk'er n.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Leif, WA, USA
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Cakewalk?
Hey K Allen Griffy, if everyone answered their own question there would be no need for Wordwizard! There are a great many of us who thoroughly enjoy reading the enlightening answers and some of us get tired of your complaints about how dumb we are.
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A cakewalk
I always thought that a cakewalk meant something that was easy to accomplish.
Wikipedia states that is originates from a dance competition among slaves with a large cake as the prize. Could there be another origin for this phrase?
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Wikipedia states that is originates from a dance competition among slaves with a large cake as the prize. Could there be another origin for this phrase?
Signature: Another season another reason....
Re: A cakewalk
I have always known about the dance, and because I knew about it I just accepted that it was a dance with easy steps. I'll bet that Ken will know more though.
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Signature: All those years gone to waist!
Bob in Wales
Re: A cakewalk
Didn't they originate with Bach's Battenburg Concertos, and find their fullest development in the popular late Victorian tea dance?
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Re: A cakewalk
I think you mean BRACH'S. In which case, wouldn't it be a candy walk?Didn't they originate with Bach's Battenburg Concertos
Re: A cakewalk
I don't think so, Marie. American dance sweets are far less common than European.
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Re: A cakewalk
A cake walk was a game of chance that we used to play at social functions like church picnics and such. It was a fund-raiser. People donated baked goods and other people would purchase tickets to participate in a "musical chairs" sort of contest to win the goodies. The tickets were very cheap and there was a very good chance you would "win". It was a cake walk.
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