[Ads-l] Antedating of "Piece of Cake"

Tue Feb 10 01:18:32 UTC 2026

There are considerable differences between the British and American 
publications of Nash's poems (delineated in George Crandell's "Ogden 
Nash: a descriptive bibliography.") Some of the alterations appear to be 
based on the different audiences (such as "breadlines" in an American 
poem changed to "queues" in the UK publication, and similarly, "clams" 
changed to "eels"), while others are rooted in Nash's fondness for 
American slang that would have confused the British audience (such as 
the American "burlicue" changed to "music hall" in the UK version). Many 
of the changes are simply odd, and may reflect Nash's delight in coming 
up with something new. (Such changes are fairly common inn musical 
theater lyrics, since terms such as "fanny" mean something quite 
different in London and New York.)

It's not clear that all the changes were made by Nash himself: his UK 
publisher may have suggested them or Nash may have made them himself, or 
some combination. In this particular case, "everything is jake" was 
American slang that likely had not yet made it to Britain.

------ Original Message ------
>From "Shapiro, Fred" <00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Date 2/9/2026 19:24:13
Subject Re: Antedating of "Piece of Cake"

>Thanks for the illuminating research, Garson !
>
>Fred
>
>________________________________
>From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Monday, February 9, 2026 1:36 AM
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Subject: Re: Antedating of "Piece of Cake"
>
>Fred Shapiro
>>  piece of cake (OED 1936)
>>
>>  The OED's first use of the term "piece of cake" is dated 1936 by
>>  them.  The source is Ogden Nash's book The Primrose Path.
>>  The 1936 dating is erroneous, it should be 1935.
>
>The situation is complex. There seems to be a solid reason for the
>1936 date in the OED.
>
>The 1935 U.S. Simon and Schuster edition of the collection "The
>Primrose Path" by Ogden Nash is available via the Internet Archive. I
>have been unable to find the phrase "piece of cake" in this 1935
>edition.
>
>Here is more information from the OED entry.
>
>[Begin OED citation]
>piece of cake noun
>colloquial. Something easy or pleasant.
>1936 Her picture's in the papers now, And life's a piece of cake.
>O. Nash, Primrose Path 172
>[End OED citation]
>
>When I searched for a match based on the OED text, I found a pertinent
>Ogden Nash poem titled "I Have Used It for Years" in 1933, but this
>poem employed the phrase "And everything is jake" instead of "And
>life's a piece of cake".
>
>Here is an excerpt from the poem in "The New Yorker":
>
>Date: June 24, 1933
>Periodical: The New Yorker
>Poem: I Have Used It for Years
>Author: Ogden Nash
>Quote Page 23, Column 2
>Publisher: F-R Publishing Corporation, New York
>Database: Internet Archive
>
>[Begin excerpt]
>Her life was rather grim.
>But Pinkley Pills have showed her how
>To cure that steady ache.
>Her picture's in the papers now,
>And everything is jake.
>[End excerpt]
>
>The same poem with the word "jake" appeared in the 1933 collection "Happy Days":
>
>Year: 1933
>Book Title: Happy Days
>Author: Ogden Nash
>Poem: I Have Used It for Years
>Start Page 29, Quote Page 30
>Publisher: Simon and Schuster, New York
>Database: Internet Archive
>
>[Begin excerpt]
>Her life was rather grim.
>But Pinkley Pills have showed her how
>To cure that steady ache.
>Her picture's in the papers now,
>And everything is jake.
>[End excerpt]
>
>This confusing topic was discussed in the following English language forum:
>
>Website: Stack Exchange - English Language and Usage
>Date: March 6, 2018
>Topic title: Where is Ogden Nash's "piece of cake"?
>https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fenglish.stackexchange.com%2Fquestions%2F434216%2Fwhere-is-ogden-nashs-piece-of-cake&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C29fc8af37691408fd6e708de67a59ad2%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C639062158149734731%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=aoSrOYCOseu3EC37vMdF%2BF%2BTu%2FkGsrUdITU7HxHwAPQ%3D&reserved=0<https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/434216/where-is-ogden-nashs-piece-of-cake>
>
>Poster "Mari-Lou A" was unable to find "piece of cake" in the 1935
>edition of "The Primrose Path". However, further down on the webpage a
>participant using the handle "JJJ" asserted that that the 1936 edition
>of "The Primrose Path" by Ogden Nash from the publisher Bodley Head in
>London contained the phrase "piece of cake". The webpage included
>scans which contain the following lines.
>
>[Begin excerpt]
>Her life was rather grim.
>But Pinkley Pills have showed her how
>To cure that steady ache.
>Her picture's in the papers now,
>And life's a piece of cake.
>[End excerpt]
>
>I have not personally accessed the 1936 Bodley Head edition.
>
>Garson
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C29fc8af37691408fd6e708de67a59ad2%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C639062158149770938%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=D6MS1y4XGDZ2IxjoeRoraa%2B5FK4ASAdz1se6dhhY8DY%3D&reserved=0<http://www.americandialect.org/>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org