cupcake v. to compete or win with little effort. Editorial Note: Usually transitive, especially in the form cupcake it. Thanks and credit go to Ben Zimmer for his research. Etymological Note: Ben Zimmer has suggested comparisons with other dessert-related terms, such as cakewalk, piece of cake, and pudding ‘an easy task,’ and easy as pie ‘very easy.’ However, there is also a noun cupcake ‘a homosexual man; an effeminate or ineffectual man,’ from an earlier (affectionate) term for a girl or woman, that could be related to the verb defined here. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
When a teenager went a week without talking as part of a school project, he noticed a surprising side effect: Instead of rehearsing a response to what other people were saying to him, he was focused on listening — and feeling smarter as a result...
Why is boxing called the sweet science when it’s obviously such a bruising sport? Also, a mother of five is baffled when her Gen Z kids use words she thought she knew. For example, they call sweatshirts sweaters, and declare that’s so aesthetic...