Entry in progress—B.P.
“Lasagna is one of the easiest meals to make. It’s a pizza cake” and “It’s pretty easy to make a deep dish pizza. It’s like a pizza cake” are related jokes.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Main Entry: piece of cake
Date: 1935
: something easily done : cinch , breeze
(Oxford English Dictionary)
cake, n.
Colloq. phr. a piece of cake: something easy or pleasant.
1936 O. NASH Primrose Path 172 Her picture’s in the papers now, And life’s a piece of cake.
1942 T. RATTIGAN Flare Path 1, Special. Very hush-hush. Not exactly a piece of cake, I believe.
1943 P. BRENNAN et al. Spitfires over Malta i. 31 The mass raids promised to be a piece of cake, and we anticipated taking heavy toll of the raiders.
1960 T. MCLEAN Kings of Rugby 205 They took the field against Canterbury as if the match were ‘a piece of cake’.
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
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“What did the full glass of water say to the empty glass?"/"You look drunk.” (5/27)
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Big Apple Turnover (Ray Williams nickname on New York Knicks, 1979) (5/27)
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“What did the full glass say to the empty glass?"/"You look drunk!” (5/27)
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“Tartar sauce implies the existence of Mongol sauce” (5/27)
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“House salad implies the existence of apartment salad” (5/27)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik.