cakewalk

The Pursuit of Happynessの主人公は一応まともな仕事にありついた様です。
While I promised to do that as soon as I could make the arrangements, what had been an insurmountable process of finding my new niche in the working world was all of a sudden a  cakewalk. With my sights fixed on the possibilities of making my way in the business world. I quickly landed a job as a sales rep for a medical equipment and supply company called CMS.
"cakewalk" は "a piece of cake" を思い起こさせる表現ですが、語源も知りたい。
・Oxford English Dictionary: An absurdly or surprisingly easy task: 'winning the game won't be a cakewalk’
・Cambridge English Dictionary:something that is very easy to achieve: The Superbowl was a cakewalk for the Forty-Niners.
由来はEtymology.comに次の説明がありました。
probably in reference to the cake given as a prize for the fanciest steps in a procession in a Southern black custom (explained by Thornton, 1912, as, "A walking competition among negroes," in which the prize cake goes to "the couple who put on most style"). Its figurative meaning of "something easy" (1863) is recorded before the literal one (1879). As a verb, from 1909. This may also be the source of the phrase to take the cake (1847).