As easy as pie: Difference between revisions
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==Origin== |
==Origin== |
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There are some claims that the phrase originated in the 1920s from the [[Indigenous Australian]] expression "pie at" or "pie on" from the [[Māori language|Maori]] term "pai" which means "good", but it was used in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' in 1913 (22 Feb.), and in 1910 by [[Zane Grey]] in "[[The Young Forester]]", and is probably a development of the phrase "like eating pie", first recorded in "Sporting Life" in 1886. |
There are some claims that the phrase originated in the 1920s from the [[Indigenous Australian]] expression "pie at" or "pie on" from the [[Māori language|Maori]] term "pai" which means "good", but it was used in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' in 1913 (22 Feb.), and in 1910 by [[Zane Grey]] in "[[The Young Forester]]", and is probably a development of the phrase "like eating pie", first recorded in "Sporting Life" in 1886. |
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BAG OF DICKS |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 15:39, 1 March 2013
As easy as pie is a popular colloquial idiom which is used to describe a task or experience as pleasurable and simple.[1][2] The idiom does not refer to the making of a pie, but rather to the act of consuming a pie ("as easy as eating a pie") which is usually a simple and pleasurable experience.[2] The phrase is often interchanged with piece of cake, which shares the same connotation.[2]
It has been compared to the Chinese idiom "yi ru fan zhang", meaning "very easy", and literally "as easy as turning one's hand over".[3]
Origin
There are some claims that the phrase originated in the 1920s from the Indigenous Australian expression "pie at" or "pie on" from the Maori term "pai" which means "good", but it was used in the Saturday Evening Post in 1913 (22 Feb.), and in 1910 by Zane Grey in "The Young Forester", and is probably a development of the phrase "like eating pie", first recorded in "Sporting Life" in 1886.
BAG OF DICKS
References
- ^ Almond, Jordan (1995-01-01). Dictionary of word origins: a history of the words, expressions, and clichés we use. Citadel Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-8065-1713-1. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
- ^ a b c Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London, United Kingdom: Chambers Harrap Publishers. 2009. pp. sec. As.
- ^ Tang, Chihsia (2007). "A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ENGLISH AND CHINESE IDIOMS WITH FOOD NAMES" (PDF). USTWPL 3: 83-93. National Tsing Hua University. pp. 89–90. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
Further reading
- Flexner, Stuart Berg (1979-10). I hear America talking: an illustrated history of American words and phrases. Simon and Schuster. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-671-24994-6. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
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