Where do expressions like 'a piece of cake' come from?

Analysis: Every language is composed of a plethora of idiomatic expressions and English is no exception

From William Shakespeare to Seamus Heaney, figurative language such as idiom, metaphor, symbolism and allegory all function to make a poem sound more colourful and appealing to the reader. But are we so imaginative when it comes to our everyday speech? The answer is yes, indeed. We do not need to look at the scholarly and poetic writings of such acclaimed publishers to see the expression of imagination and figurativeness. Every language is composed of a plethora of idiomatic expressions, and English is no exception.

There are a multitude of definitions of "idiom", but each definition has the same notion, that an idiom is an expression or phrase where the meaning is not usually related to the words in the expression. Take, for example, the canonical phrase it's raining cats and dogs. Just because one understands each word in this expression, the meaning still needs to be inferred.

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Though this is often the usual go-to example when someone is asked to give an example of an English idiom, this expression is, in fact, very infrequent in spoken English. It originates in 18th century London floods. Once the rain had stopped, and the water dispersed from the streets, drowned feral cats and dogs were revealed, and Londoners then deduced that it had literally rained cats and dogs.

Slang, colloquialisms, proverbs, a character's catch phrase, an advertisement’s stock phrase, hyperbole, protest slogans, discourse markers and gambits: the list of idioms we use is almost endless and shows how important idiomatic language is in our daily lives.

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The next time you have a conversation, a regular chat with a colleague, friend, or family member, reflect on if you have used anything idiomatic. Figurative expressions are context, language and culture based. If one tries to translate an example from one language to another, it is almost impossible to make the correct deduction.

Take the following Spanish expression cuando a una rana le crece pelo. Literally translated into English, it is when a frog grows hair. Factually, we know that frogs do not grow hair, but this Spanish idiom holds a similar meaning to the English expression when pigs fly, often used sarcastically and meaning something that is impossible to happen.

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According to Voxy, the 10 most frequently used idioms in Ireland and the UK are (in order of frequency) (1) A piece of cake, (2) to cost an arm and a leg, (3) break a leg, (4) hit the books, (5) let the cat out of the bag, (6) hit the nail on the head, (7) when pigs fly, (8) you can’t judge a book by its cover, (9) bite off more than you can chew and (10) scratch someone’s back. Let's look at five of these expressions and examine their origins. It is important to note that there are numerous accounts of the origins of certain idioms so we're looking at the earliest estimation.

A piece of cake

Something is very easy, simple. This dates to the 1930’s when the British Royal Air Force described an easy flying mission, saying that it was as sweet as eating a piece of cake.

Cost an arm and a leg

Extremely expensive. This originated in the US during World War II, where many soldiers had lost either an arm or a leg. The price of war became known as an arm and a leg.

Break a leg

The best of luck. This dates to the early days of the British theatre and actors queuing backstage waiting to perform. If they were not performing, they remained behind the 'leg line’ which also meant they did not get paid. If they ‘broke the leg’, then they were lucky to perform and in turn get paid.

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Hit the books

To study hard. This is one of the more contemporary idioms, originating in the mid-20th century. 'Hit' was seen as to start something, and academics altered the original expression hit the trail which cowboys used when starting out on a journey.

Let the cat out of the bag

To reveal a secret. Frequently used for a negative secret which has consequences once revealed. This dates to the 1700s, where dishonest merchants would sell a cat (considered worthless) instead of a pig (considered valuable), put it in a bag and the buyer would not realise the scam until they got home and opened the bag.

Idiomatic language is here to stay. It makes our language figurative, colourful and imaginative. As an open class of vocabulary, there are new examples coined daily in TV programmes, movies and songs. Idioms are integral to both native and non-native speakers of the English language.

Dr Justin McNamara lectures in English as a Foreign Language and Applied Linguistics at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, where he also works as a Post Doctoral Researcher on the Irish Research Council-funded Interactional-Variation Online and the Limerick Corpus of Irish English projects.

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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ