Cugalabanza Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 I've always wondered this. I picture a guy with 2 big birthday cakes on his feet instead of shoes and he's kind of lumbering around like Frankenstein's monster. Or, maybe a crazy person puts a great big cake (wedding style this time) in a wagon and parades it around the town square because he thinks it's a pet or something.
jad1 Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 I've always wondered this. I picture a guy with 2 big birthday cakes on his feet instead of shoes and he's kind of lumbering around like Frankenstein's monster. Or, maybe a crazy person puts a great big cake (wedding style this time) in a wagon and parades it around the town square because he thinks it's a pet or something. 138286[/snapback] I think it's a game played at county fairs similar to musical chairs. People donate cakes, put them on a table. Other people pay to enter the walk, and then the music starts and they walk around the table. When the music stops, you get the cake you're standing in front of. However, most of my knowlege about this comes from an episode of That 70's Show, so I could be wrong.
Alaska Darin Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 I think it's a game played at county fairs similar to musical chairs. People donate cakes, put them on a table. Other people pay to enter the walk, and then the music starts and they walk around the table. When the music stops, you get the cake you're standing in front of. However, most of my knowlege about this comes from an episode of That 70's Show, so I could be wrong. 138298[/snapback] No, I think you're right.
The Jokeman Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Officially: One entry found for cakewalk. Main Entry: cake·walk Pronunciation: 'kAk-"wok Function: noun 1 : a black American entertainment having a cake as prize for the most accomplished steps and figures in walking 2 : a stage dance developed from walking steps and figures typically involving a high prance with backward tilt 3 a : a one-sided contest b : an easy task - cakewalk intransitive verb - cake·walk·er noun Courtesy of http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=cakewalk
Guffalo Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Ok, if I can recall this correctly, it was a game they played way back where for a charuty event, people would bake cakes and donate them. The for every "walk" there would be maybe 20 spaces, and 20 people, each paying a dollar. The people would walk around the spaces and then stop on a number, they would then draw a number out of a hat, the winner "takes the cake". This was like 40 years ago at a church bazaar (Mount St. Marys in Kenmore), I was just a little kid, but I never remember ever winning any frickin cakes
ICE Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 I think it's a game played at county fairs similar to musical chairs. People donate cakes, put them on a table. Other people pay to enter the walk, and then the music starts and they walk around the table. When the music stops, you get the cake you're standing in front of. However, most of my knowlege about this comes from an episode of That 70's Show, so I could be wrong. 138298[/snapback] You are correct. You don't get the cake you brought, but you do get free cake. So see easy cake walk.
ExiledInIllinois Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 I think it's a game played at county fairs similar to musical chairs. People donate cakes, put them on a table. Other people pay to enter the walk, and then the music starts and they walk around the table. When the music stops, you get the cake you're standing in front of. However, most of my knowlege about this comes from an episode of That 70's Show, so I could be wrong. 138298[/snapback] So another words, everybody gets a cake and wins! Wow... Never knew that... What happens if they take in more players (ie: more money and players) than cakes?... Wouldn't that be a racket? For some reason I picture the Bills losing at this type of "cake walk."...
stevestojan Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 dictionary.com A 19th-century public entertainment among African Americans in which walkers performing the most accomplished or amusing steps won cakes as prizes.
Dan Gross Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 I think it's a game played at county fairs similar to musical chairs. People donate cakes, put them on a table. Other people pay to enter the walk, and then the music starts and they walk around the table. When the music stops, you get the cake you're standing in front of. However, most of my knowlege about this comes from an episode of That 70's Show, so I could be wrong. 138298[/snapback] According to the word detective, you are close. It is about a dance contest. Apparently came to mean what it does today through boxing.... http://www.word-detective.com/092403.html First question, you have to scroll down about a screenful.... One kind of contest popular in the African-American community in the 19th century was the "cakewalk," in which couples competed strolling arm in arm, with the prize, a cake, being awarded to the most graceful and stylish team. Since "cakewalking" demanded both skill and grace, victory in the contest was rarely a "cakewalk" in our modern "easy" sense. That modern use of "cakewalk" in the came from the boxing ring, where a very easy victory over an outclassed opponent was likened to a refined "cakewalk" compared to the ordinarily prolonged and brutal nature of the matches. By 1877, "cakewalk" had graduated from the boxing ring and acquired its general meaning of "an effortless victory." Incidentally, the term "piece of cake," meaning "something easily accomplished," has only been traced back to the 1940s, and there is no apparent direct connection with "cakewalk." "Piece of cake" originally simply meant "something good," which cake certainly is.
Cugalabanza Posted November 29, 2004 Author Posted November 29, 2004 dictionary.com A 19th-century public entertainment among African Americans in which walkers performing the most accomplished or amusing steps won cakes as prizes. 138318[/snapback] Wow, substitute for "21st century" for "19th century" and "cash" for "cakes" and you have a good definition for Pro Football.
jarthur31 Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 This is a road game. I don't think of it as a cakewalk, despite their record. Habits die hard. We need to impose our will on the road more consistently to be thought of as a winner.
Surfmeister Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 It's like Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks .... with cake ! http://guardian.curtin.edu.au/cga/art/tv.html
Cugalabanza Posted November 29, 2004 Author Posted November 29, 2004 More like a "SHOE IN" I'd say. Shoe in what, I have no idea.
Surfmeister Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 The commonly used spelling of "shoe in" makes it seem as if it were rooted in the action of a shoehorn. In fact, the meaning comes from horse racing lingo: corrupt jockeys conspire and agree to hold back their mounts and to "shoo in," or urge forward, a slow horse on which they have bet. In such a phony contest, the shoo-in is the only horse in the race that is trying to win. http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOriginsData.htm
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