Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Cakes...

Recently I was talking with a friend/co-worker about an upcoming project and refered to it as 'a cakewalk.' She looked at me a little puzzled and then made me explain what that meant. So, after giving her my definition (something easily won and/or an activity that was more or less musical chairs with the winner getting a cake), I finally decided to look the thing up.

cake·walk (kāk'wôk')

n.
  1. Something easily accomplished: Winning the race was a cakewalk for her.
  2. A 19th-century public entertainment among African Americans in which walkers performing the most accomplished or amusing steps won cakes as prizes.
    1. A strutting dance, often performed in minstrel shows.
    2. The music for this dance.
intr.v. cake·walked, cake·walk·ing, cake·walks To perform a strutting dance.
cake'walk'er n.

I had no idea that's where it came from and that is nothing like the cakewalks I had as a kid. Weird.

11 comments:

A blog about... said...

Jim Rogers says the UK is finished.
Any thoughts?

http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=30201&t=1&c=33&cg=4&mset=

joshwall said...

People often call for doom and gloom but that rarely seems to happen in regards to how much people rattle the cages about it. Also, while the UK is in a rough patch (as far as confidence in sterling) its not as though people are acting high on the rational side. So in general I'd disagree with the man, I'm also not planning on teaching my children mandarin at present, and heaven help us if one of the largest economies in the world is 'finished' (whatever that even means).

megfeen said...

What does this have to do with cake?

joshwall said...

absolutely nothing. But if the exchange rate keeps going down we'll be able to buy less American cake and therefore have to put up with more fruitcakes and Christmas puds.

megfeen said...

That is an excellent point, Josh, and another reason why it's ok that I check the exchange rate constantly. Man, we do a bad job of timing our big moves.

Jason and Melissa said...

Hmmm you all are very "headsy" in your talk, however all I can think about is CAKE right now - thanks a lot for the ooey gooey chocolate-y picture. . .

Anonymous said...

I too was wondering what the initial conversation had to do with cake, which, by the way, I am extremely fond of. Let's here it for food that makes people happy! Shouldn't that cure some sort of problem in the world? (Sorry but I am not feeling particularly philosophical right now. Must be Friday).
Love the photo!
Mom F

A blog about... said...

From your Nov. 2007 "five things I hate" post, #3 on Megans list was "Birthday Cake (well really cake in general)"
Are you giving cake a second chance?

Unknown said...

You mean all those elementary school fairs were just misleading me? Between that and Pluto not being a planet I'm starting wonder if anything I learned in elementary school is true. Maybe I was right all along...maybe 2 plus 2 doesn't equal four.

megfeen said...

Oh no, I still don't particularly love sponge cake, at least not when presented with other dessert-like options. But the fact that my pounds don't buy as much American cake as they used to is still distressing. In fact, if the pound keeps dropping, then we might not be able to afford any cake for quite some time, and that is unfortunate because any cake is better than no cake, regardless of whether you like it or not.

Lindsey, I once learned in elementary school that a chocolate cake we'd just eaten made by a classmate's mother included zucchini. I suppose you feel a bit like we did...

A blog about... said...

Blame it on the North Sea drying up.