cakewalk, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

cakewalk n.

[SE cakewalk, a dance in which the contestants (usu. US black) promenade around a cake placed in the centre of the dance-floor; those who perform the fanciest steps literally ‘take the cake’. Orig. as WWI milit. jargon, an attack or raid that met with little or no opposition]

1. anything considered very easy, thus attrib.

1895		Mirror of Life 17 Aug. 10/4: [A]lthough a Corbett man, [he] does not think the champion has a cake-walk with the redheaded freak from the Antipodes.
1897		Siler & Houseman Fight of the Century 46: It’s a cake-walk for Jim [...] Fitz hasn’t a chance on earth to win.
1900		C.L. Cullen Taking Chances 53: It’s a cake-walk fo’ dat baby.
1904		Sun. Times (Perth) 3 Jan. 2/4: Another cake walk-was the Karrakatta Plate [...] ‘Matt’ Harris [...] placed the verdict beyend doubt at the half-distance.
1910		H. Hapgood Types From City Streets 34: ’Tain’t no cake walk, dis hard walk.
1917		‘Banjo’ Paterson ‘The Oracle’ in Three Elephant Power 17: Go on, Jimmy! Rub it into him! Belt him! It’s a cake-walk! A cake-walk!
1928		J. Callahan Man’s Grim Justice 13: This burglar business was not the cake walk I had pictured.
1932		(con. WWI) L. Mann Flesh in Armour 86: Gilderoy came along from the left. ‘This is a cakewalk’.
1933		(con. WWI) F. Richards Old Soldiers Never Die (1964) 118: Anyone would think we were going to have a cake walk.
1941		B. Schulberg What Makes Sammy Run? (1992) 111: Listen, kid [...] don’t think I’m having any cakewalk.
1965		L. Dunne Goodbye to The Hill (1966) 164: This’ll be a cakewalk after winning a talent contest.
1979		T. Alibrandi Killshot 78: It ain’t gonna be any cakewalk, kid.
1987		(con. 1967) E. Spencer Welcome to Vietnam (1989) 124: It is a one-day march back. A cakewalk.
1998		Eble Campus Sl. (Apr).
2000		G.V. Higgins At End of Day (2001) 141: I also passed on one cake-walk where it then turned out that everyone who went in went to jail.
2012		J. Díaz This Is How You Lose Her 6: Don’t think it was a cakewalk, because it wasn’t.
2013		T. Robinson Hard Bounce [ebook] All things considered, it should have been a cakewalk day.

2. (Aus.) something excellent.

1906

E. Dyson Fact’ry ’Ands 1: She’s [...] ther top apple, th’ ’ole blessed cake-walk, ’n’ straight ez er church.