origins of English words

英语自学网

A piece of cake
         
        　　A famous American poet named Ogden Nash lived back in the 1930s. Avid readers enjoyed everything the creative Nash worte, and his poems were widely quoted. In one popular poem, Nash wrote, "Her picture's in the papers now, and life's a piece of cake." Readers found this phrase appealing and quickly picked it up. If one picture in a newspaper could make you famous, wouldn't life be easy? For nearly 70 years, "a piece of cake" has meant any task of activity that is simple and enjoyable.
         
        　　Boss
         
        　　Is your boss nice to you ? If not ,just be glad you weren't living in medieval times. Back then, bosses had total power over their employees and could even beat them! That explains why the word "boss" comes from an old German word meaning "to beat".
         
        　　OK
         
        　　"OK" was once a 19th century American polotician----nicknamed "Old Kinderhook". In one election year, his supporters went around shouting"OK! OK".The supporters thought their candidate was "all right". The expreesion caught on , and now if something is "all right",we simply say "OK".