> If you read your own link, you would realize that, insofar as "cakewalk" has "racial connotations" (that's quite disputable -- it certainly has a history link

> If you read your own link, you would realize that, insofar as "cakewalk" has "racial connotations" (that's quite disputable -- it certainly has a history linked to racial issues, but "history" and "connotations" aren't the same thing), There's no need to be snarky. In the same link I cited, it notes that this etymology of "piece of cake" is hypothesized but uncertain (which easily verified elsewhere)[0][1]. I agree that connotations and history aren't the same, and in fact, if we accept as fact the premise that the etymology for both phrases is the same, this example only underscores that fact even further. Even if we assume the etymology is the same, I posit that "piece of cake" has been appropriated and sanitized far more than "cakewalk" has. This is an example of where etymological history and connotations diverge[2]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk#Modern_times https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk#Modern_times [1] http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cakewalk http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cakewalk [2] An example of the same phenomenon working in reverse would be the word "niggardly", which has a completely non-racist etymology[3], but nevertheless may carry racial connotations in use[4]. The fact that the word is of Norse origin doesn't change the connotation it carries when used, even if undeservedly. [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niggardly#Word_origins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niggardly#Word_origins [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niggardly#David_Howard_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niggardly#David_Howard_inciden...