This week’s theme
Words derived from food

This week’s words
appanage
cake eater
grubstake
applesauce
interlard

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(KAYK ee-tuhr)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A self-indulgent person who leads a life of ease and pleasure.
2. A ladies’ man.

ETYMOLOGY:

From cake, from Old Norse kaka + eater, from eat, from Old English etan. Earliest documented use: 1791.

NOTES:

If the poor peasants don’t have bread, “Let them eat cake.” The French queen Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) never said those words, but her name is forever connected with them. They symbolize a disregard for the struggles of the less fortunate, much like the term cake eater. Traditionally, cake is not an everyday sustenance but a symbol of indulgence. A piece of cake metaphorically represents something easily achieved, and a similar term, cakewalk, refers to a competition or task easily won or accomplished.

USAGE:

“Always be suspicious of a player whose mom or dad carries his or her gear. They’re likely cake eaters.”
Caroline Akervik; Christmas Comeback (to Me); Melange Books; 2020.

“The rules: ‘Don’t fall for the slick, dandified cake eater -- the unpolished gold of a real man is worth more than the gloss of a lounge lizard.’”
John Kelly; Anti-Flirt Club in 1923; The Washington Post; Apr 20, 2021.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: