Maybe it’s not exactly so for everyone, but I can say that not being able to put one’s thoughts in proper words can be very frustrating. Isn’t it better that the thoughts never occurred?!
Further, the inability to accurately switch words for words could be equally dehumanizing. I mean you couldn’t help getting sick of an overused word.
In light of this fact, it is arguably necessary that you know other ways to put ‘cuts like a hot knife through butter’, something we shall now consider.
Cuts like a hot knife through butter meaning
To cut like a hot knife through butter is to effortlessly achieve success. Therefore when you hear ‘cuts like a hot knife through butter’, whatever is being spoken about is done very easily. It may be of a thing or situation.
What’s more, this statement could be used more literally to describe any tool that cuts through things effectively and with very little effort.
Some equally put this phrase as ‘cuts like a knife through butter’ or more simply, ‘like a knife through butter’. It is of not much necessity to include ‘hot’ in the statement – since no matter how blunt it may be, it is expected that a knife easily cuts through such things as butter.
This, it is hoped, will make you better understand the phrase in question. We should now be headed to the 15 other phrases for this expression.
15 Similar Phrases “Cuts Like a Hot Knife Through Butter”
The following phrases are closely related to, and can be used in place of ‘cuts like a hot knife through butter’.
- A cakewalk
- Child’s play
- Cherry Pie
- A walk in the park
- Duck soup
- A breeze
- Piece of cake
- Not a rocket science
- Do it with one’s eyes shut
- Shooting fish in a barrel
- There is nothing to it
- Like stealing candy from a baby
- It is a cinch
- Piece of piss
- Anyone can do it
A cakewalk
There is this impression you get when a cake is mentioned. It is usually one of ‘ease’. The cake is tender and anyone can bet they wouldn’t have to hit it hard to bring it down.
Although ‘a cakewalk’ or simply ‘cakewalk’ is now widely used as a phrase to describe a surprisingly easy task, its origin isn’t so aligning.
The word would be traced back to the early 1870s when cakewalk performances were reported in the media in minstrel in America.
It is a dance presentation by the enslaved blacks in exchange for cake (something they couldn’t afford for themselves in those days).
Arguably, since you danced the way you like and did it for a luxury you couldn’t easily afford, cakewalk might have had an impression of ‘ease’ on the people that used it then.
Anyway, I now sometimes wonder if there are any such things that are truly a cakewalk in life. It is definitely a deliberate exaggeration.
Child’s play
Child’s play has been another popular term to describe any task that is especially easily accomplished.
There is a high chance that you are acquainted with this phrase though. It is synonymous with ‘cuts like a hot knife through butter’.
You were not formally taught to play. For better understanding, remember that every adult was a child, and the processes passed in those days appear as nothing in your eyes, over the years.
We use child’s play in sentences like: ‘To me, programming has become a child’s play – just practice more.’
Cherry Pie
There are several definitions of cherry pie but here is it as a synonym for ‘very easy’, why? This is based on recent word usage and not necessarily what you might find formal in some dictionaries.
If you live in English-speaking countries, you might have heard such sentences as ‘loving you is cherry pie’, etc.
While the phrase could be ambiguous, Cherry (when informally used) is perceived as something pleasant, sweet, or enjoyable.
Pie is tender (easy) too, so the combo of the two comes close in meaning to ‘easy as pie’ or the earlier examined ‘cakewalk’. Over time, it’s been used in sentences like, ‘Nevermind, coming over is a cherry pie’.
A walk in the park
A walk in the park as a phrase or idiom is another common way to say that something is very easy to do, plus the fact it is fun or pleasant.
It is nearest in meaning to the phrase ‘as easy as one-two-three’. The phrase is often used in comparing a thing to another.
For instance, we say, ‘I hate to hunt, but it is a walk in the park to John.’ We’ve just compared two people’s interests in hunting, and it is said to be very easy for one of the two.
Further, this phrase noticeably has its origin in the late 1930s when it was used to modify the expert and unchallenging round of golf.
Duck soup
Duck soup has a connotation that means an absurdly easy-to-achieve task. The phrase is well recognized, and in wide use across the globe.
The idiom was said to have first surfaced back in 1902 in an American cartoon by T.A. Dothan before it was later used in ‘Bud’, H.C’s comic strip. ‘No problem’ is a common phrase people use in place of ‘Duck soup’.
Duck soup as a noun phrase may also be used to refer to a person, thence describing them as ‘so easy to overcome’. I suppose that consequently, some will mistake a masochist for a duck soup.
A breeze
Go ahead and call it a breeze, if you achieve something more easily than you imagined.
While there are different types of air, the breeze is usually very weak (symbolizing little effort), so it is logic to keep in mind.
The phrase, being an idiomatic expression, could also be used to mean something easy, without the inclusion of the letter ‘a’.
Contrary to the last phrase examined, however, a breeze cannot be used to refer to an overly simple person. So we use the idiom in sentences like: ‘It is not what we thought; the test was actually a breeze.’
Piece of cake
As is the case with cakewalk, it should be noted that short phrases carrying ‘cakes’ are often used to refer to easy (and very easy) tasks. Let’s see to this.
If you’ve eaten cake before, you know how effortless it was for you to consume. You may even decide to not get your teeth involved…
So we want to believe you will barely think about the answers if you say a given exam question is a piece of cake, for instance. It’s that simple!
‘Easy job’ and ‘Child’s play’ are some other phrases commonly used to replace ‘piece of cake’.
Not a rocket science
Here it comes. Rocket science is not child play. At the mention of ‘science’, many are terrified! It is a name that puts fear in many, probably majorly because of its nuanced nature.
As a result, people want to hear that ‘it is not science’, to be redeemed!
So, quite unlike others, this phrase is not usually used to say that something is very easy to do. It rather assures the listener/reader that something is not (so) difficult – as they might have conjectured.
In ‘Anyway, writing is not rocket science’, we have not exaggerated the easiness of the art of writing. It’s different from saying something is a ‘breeze’.
Do it with one’s eyes shut
We show our expertise in something when we do them with our eyes shut. Not more than it sounds, anything you can do with closed eyes is (at least to you) a breeze.
It doesn’t count whether it is generally perceived to be especially difficult.
What’s more, this expression is not limited to the act of shutting one’s eyes when doing things. Hyperbole is allowed! If I say, ‘I can reach your room with my eyes shut’, the interpretation may cut both ways.
But I won’t also be crucified to say that: ‘Einstein can solve any physics question with his eyes shut.’ It shows his dexterity.
Shooting fish in a barrel
The phrase is similar to all that has been discussed, but with a unique point of view. What excuse will you give for missing a target if you are to shoot a bullet into a wooden barrel full of dishes? You definitely get one, which is the main purpose you’re shooting.
What more could be so simple and success-assuring?! Owing to this view, it is expected that there is a hundred percent chance of succeeding in any task one modifies with ‘shooting fish in a barrel’.
There is nothing to it
This statement is also not so exaggerated, while it remains a good way to ‘so easy’ too. When you say there is nothing to it or there’s not much to it, you are pointing out what it takes.
Owing to its usage, we know it is easy. But one more thing, you’re being more specific about the simple thing your reader/listener has to do.
So, more commonly, people will say for instance, “Don’t worry about self-publishing, there is nothing to it except uploading the typed text.”
Instead of using phrases that give vague explanations of the easiness of a task, this can help you maintain the same meaning while still adding to your information.
Like stealing candy from a baby
You are not an advanced thief now but remember back in the day when you snatched candy from your kid sister or brother.
All they can do is cry; it doesn’t stop or hinder your success in doing what you intended. Yes, that act has resurfaced as a worthwhile phrase now that you are older.
When you want to talk about how jolly easy it is to do something, employ this phrase. It may also be a good way to reduce tension if you’ve been too serious all along in your speech.
It is nonetheless, equally informal, and may not meet certain standards.
It is a cinch
A cinch could mean something that must happen. But as has been considered thus far, any achievement that requires little or no effort will be referred to as a cinch. It is a deliberate exaggeration too.
An example is: ‘Swimming seems difficult, but leaping into the pool makes it a cinch to me’.
Piece of piss
There are higher chances you know of this phrase as a British. It is peculiar to Great Britain and Australia. A piece of piss is a piece of cake. By now, you know it is something so easily achieved.
As you might have figured out, this phrase has its origin in the UK. It was first noticed during WWII in Eric Partridge’s book of unconventional English words, as a variant of ‘Piece of cake’.
‘As long as you can type, being a translator will be a piece of piss.’ You can also say: ‘Transcription is just a piece of piss.’
Anyone can do it
Literally, anything everyone can do denotes extreme ease in the act. ‘Tapping on the screen is not a task, anyone can do that’. First, there are no special skills (or the like) required.
The meaning of this statement changes when we make it a question. So we can say: ‘If anyone can do that, why not you?’ or ‘I think I can if anyone can do it.’
As a result, this phrase often (not always) loses its idiomatic interpretation when it carries suppositions, so take note. If anyone can use it appropriately, you can too! Just as a hot knife cuts through butter.
Parting Words
It should be admitted that the easiest thing one can do is be referred to when ‘cuts like a hot knife through butter’ determines the nature of a task. Such expressions can be called a phrase or (better still) an idiom.
Alongside the fifteen similar phrases that have been examined, readers should take ‘falling off the log’, ‘walkover’, and ‘as easy as ABC (with which you may be quite familiar)’, as bonuses.