easy street

See also: Easy Street

English

WOTD – 21 April 2023

Etymology

From easy (“at ease, comfortable”) +‎ street.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈiːzi ˌstɹiːt/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈizi ˌstɹit/

Noun

easy street (uncountable)

1. (originally US, idiomatic, informal) Chiefly preceded by on: a carefree lifestyle or situation, especially as as a result of becoming wealthy.
   • 1813, Financial Year Book of the Daily Commercial News, San Francisco, Calif.: Commercial News Pub. Co., →OCLC, page 55, column 2:

     Stocks are light, while packers will be able to get financial aid, which will, so far as that is concerned, place them on "easy street."

   • 1890 August, Marie L[ouise] Marsh, “[The Sketch Book—Character in Outline] Jimsey’s Mascot”, in Current Literature: A Magazine of Record and Review, volume V, number 2, New York, N.Y.: The Current Literature Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 121, column 2:

     Once after this I asked the "pardners" if Jimsey's mascot was bringing him luck. / "Yes, lady," said Tom, "we walks on de shady side of de street now—don't we, Jimsey?" / "Yes, we lives on Easy street."

     Republished from the Chicago Times.

   • 1919, Upton Sinclair, “Jimmie Higgins Puts His Foot in It”, in Jimmie Higgins […], Pasadena, Calif.: Upton Sinclair, →OCLC, section II, page 83:

     There was big money in it—the fellows who did that job might live on Easy Street the rest of their lives.

   • 1921 October 8 – December 31, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIV, in Mostly Sally [The Adventures of Sally], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 23 March 1923, →OCLC, section II, page 256:

     Honestly, Sally, it's the chance of a lifetime. It would put you right on easy street. Isn't there really any way you could get your money out of this other thing and take on this deal?

   • 1972 October, Carole King (lyrics and music), “Bitter with the Sweet”, in Rhymes & Reasons:

     Sometimes I'm tired and I wonder / What's so all-fired important / About being someplace at some time / Oh, but I don't really mind / 'Cause I could be on Easy Street

   • 1977, “Easy Street”, in Martin Charnin (lyrics), Charles Strouse (music), Annie (soundtrack):

     Easy street, easy street / Where the rich folks play (yeah, yeah, yeah) / Move them feet to easy street / When you get there, stay

Alternative forms

• Easy Street

Translations

(informal) carefree lifestyle or situation, especially as resulting from being wealthy

• Finnish: kissanpäivät (fi) pl, helppo elämä
• Hungarian: él, mint hal a vízben (hu) (literally “to live like fish in the water”)
• Macedonian: ле́сна живе́ачка f (lésna živéačka), изо́билство n (izóbilstvo), благосо́стојба f (blagosóstojba), бо́гатство n (bógatstvo)
• Welsh: hawddfyd m, bywyd braf m

See also

• have it made

Further reading

• easy street (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “easy street, n.” under “easy, adj., adv., and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2021.
• “easy street, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “easy street”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.