cakes and ale
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
A good time. Life is not all cakes and ale. Life is not all beer and skittles — all pleasure.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “cakes and ale” mean?
A good time. Life is not all cakes and ale. Life is not all beer and skittles — all pleasure.
Is “cakes and ale” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.