or cakey, subs. (popular).—1. A fool or dullard. Quoted by Grose in his A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue [1785], in various provincial glossaries, and generally colloquial in the lower strata of society. [In punning allusion, some have thought, to the doughy softness of a cake, a name given at first to any ‘flat’ kind of sweetened breadstuff. Hence variants, such, for example, as ‘flat,’ ‘soft,’ and ‘muff.’ Others, however, trace it to the Greek κακὸς, bad, and point out that in university slang a clever man is called a good man and the opposite a bad one, or a CAKE.] For synonyms, see BUFFLE and CABBAGE-HEAD.
1841. The Comic Almanack, ‘Twelfth Night,’ p. 256.
| And ever since, on fair Twelfth Night, | |
| A wand’ring form is seen: | |
| A female form, and this its cry:— | |
| ‘Vy vot a CAKE I’ve been!’ |
1842. PLANCHÉ, The White Cat, II., iv.
| Your resignation proves that you must be | |
| The greatest CAKE he in his land could see! |
1862. E. WOOD, The Channings, II. ix. If Pye does not get called to order now, he may lapse into the habit of passing over hard-working fellows with brains, to exalt some good-for-nothing CAKE with none, because he happens to have a Dutchman for his mother.
2. (American thieves’).—A stupid policeman.
3. subs. (Christ’s Hospital).—A stroke with a cane.
Verb (Christ’s Hospital).—To cane.
TO TAKE THE CAKE, phr. (common).—To rank the highest; to carry off the honours; to be the best of a kind; ‘to fill the bill’ (theatrical). [CAKE has long been employed symbolically in this connection; in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, ‘to get one’s share of the cake’ was a common colloquialism. The special application has been popularised in the U.S.A. In certain sections of the country ‘cake walks’ are in vogue among the coloured people. The young bucks get themselves up most elaborately, and walk from one end of the hall to the other, under the gaze of beauty and the critical glance of the judges. The marking is done on a scale of numbers, and the ties are walked off with the utmost finish and a rare attention to style. The prize is a CAKE and the winner TAKES it.] Whimsical variations are TO TAKE or YANK THE BUN; TO SLIDE AWAY WITH THE BANBURY; TO ANNEX THE WHOLE CONFECTIONER’S SHOP. Cf., TO TAKE THE KETTLE = to take the prize for lying.
1885. San Francisco News Letter, Between you ’n me, red stockings ain’t becomin’ to all—ahem—limbs, ’n for cool cheek ’n dash. I back some o ’em against any saleslady ’t makes a livin’ by it, the way ’t some o’ those girls ’d pin on a boutonnière TOOK THE CAKE.
HURRY UP THE CAKES! phr. (American) = Look sharp! Buckwheat and other hot cakes form a staple dish at many American tables, but the phrase has now become pure slang.
LIKE HOT CAKES, phr. (American).—Quickly; with energy; a variant of LIKE WINKING, or LIKE ONE O’CLOCK (q.v.).
1888. Punch’s Library, p. 15. ‘Will go LIKE HOT CAKES.’ Book Seller (to Clerk). ‘Haven’t we an overstock of “Jack, the Giant-Killer,” on hand, James?’ Clerk. ‘Yes, sir.’ Book Seller. ‘Well, take ’m up to the Polo Grounds this afternoon; they’ll sell fast enough there.’
