cakes and ale
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English
Etymology
From William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night (written c. 1601–1602), Act II, scene iii: see the quotation.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ˌkeɪks n̩ ˈeɪl/
- Rhymes: -eɪl
Noun
cakes and ale pl (plural only) (idiomatic, British, dated)
- The simple material pleasures of life.
- 1857 May, “ Ivors. By the Author of ‘Amy Herbert,’ ‘Cleve Hall,’ &c. In Two Volumes. Second Edition. New York, D. Appleton and Company. 1857.”, in Henry N Hudson, editor, The American Church Monthly, volume 1, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Edward P. Allen, , →OCLC, page 389:
- To furnish the cakes and ale of the mind, is, we take it, the proper virtue of novels. It is for mental delight and recreation that we resort to them.
- Lively fun and merrymaking.
- c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 261, column 2:
- Doſt thou thinke becauſe thou art vertuous, there ſhall be no more Cakes and Ale?
Translations
simple material pleasures of life
lively fun and merrymaking
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See also
References
- ^ “cakes and ale, n.” under “cake, n. and adj.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2021; “cakes and ale, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
