cakes and ale

English

WOTD – 26 December 2021

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/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪl

Noun

cakes and ale pl (plural only) (idiomatic, British, dated)

1. The simple material pleasures of life.
   • 1857 May, “[Notices of Books.] 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[orman] 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.

2. 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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], 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

• Italian: (idiomatic) rose e fiori m pl

See also

• Thesaurus:pleasure