Easy peasy is a phrase that means something is very easy and simple. It is usually used in informal conversation or children’s rhymes and is similar in meaning to the phrase no problem. For example, a person might say, “I changed a flat tire on my car today, easy peasy.” While the expression appears to be well known in a number of English-speaking countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, the exact origin of the phrase is unclear, with one possibility being a British TV commercial from the 1970s. EasyPeasy is also the name of an operating system for Netbooks that promises to be specially customized for mobile laptops.
According to some sources, easy peasy comes from a British TV commercial for a dish detergent called Lemon Squeezy. It begins with a young girl who is faced with a pile of dirty dishes. Her mother produces a bottle of Lemon Squeezy, and they clean the dishes together. Then at the end, the little girl exclaims, “Easy peasy Lemon Squeezy,” to show how easy and simple it is to do the dishes with Lemon Squeezy. Over the years, it appears that the original TV slogan was shortened to just easy peasy.
Another theory is that easy peasy is simply a slang phrase used by children and that the two words were combined only because they sound alike. In fact, the word peasy is not an actual word in English and has no meaning or significance other that the fact that it rhymes with easy. A number of other words are sometimes added to make even longer phrases like, “easy peasy pumpkin pie”. Again, there is no obvious significance to the use of the words pumpkin pie. Children’s nursery rhymes and songs often contain these types of phrases, in which words are paired together more for their sound than their actual meaning.
EasyPeasy is also the name of a web-based operating system for Netbooks and other similar laptops. It is customized for laptop use and features compatibility with social networking sites as well as easy Internet connectivity and cloud computing. The operating system is also customized to consume less power, helping to maximize the battery life of portable devices. The use of this name for the software is intended to convey ease of use in keeping with the original meaning of the phrase.