/ə ˈpiːs əv ˈkeɪk/
English idiom, informal. Something is very easy to do.
Draft Not yet checked by a native English speaker.
How do people use A piece of cake
?
Informal and very common, said about a task or test that turned out easy: “It was a piece of cake.” On its own, “Piece of cake!” works as a confident reply when someone asks if you can manage. It can sound a bit cocky if you say it about something another person found hard.
Also said piece of cake
A piece of cake
in real sentences
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It was a piece of cake.
Tatoeba, sentence by Hybrid, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Climbing that mountain was a piece of cake.
Tatoeba, sentence by CM, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does A piece of cake
come from?
Phrase Finder’s earliest citation is from the American poet Ogden Nash in The Primrose Path (1936): “Her picture’s in the papers now, And life’s a piece of cake.” English Wiktionary agrees it was originally American. Why cake means easy isn’t recorded; Wiktionary suggests a link to “cakewalk” or simply that cake is pleasant to eat, and English has plenty of easy pies and cakes besides.
Mistakes learners make with A piece of cake
Learners use it for anything nice (“the party was a piece of cake”). It describes how easy something is to do, so it fits tasks, exams and jobs, not enjoyable events.
Other English idioms like A piece of cake
Spot a mistake in A piece of cake
?
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