Shoot the breeze

Posted by Smokey Stover on September 13, 2005

In Reply to: Shoot the breeze posted by Linzi on September 13, 2005

: There is a famous race horse sale called "the breeze" Is this where the saying "it's a breeze" comes from?

No. You mentioned "Shoot the breeze" and "It's a breeze." Either phrase can be searched in the search-box at the top (back one page). In brief, to "shoot the breeze" (1940s et seq.) means to chat, gab, sit around and talk. "It's a breeze" means something done easily, without substantial effort. It's related to the phrase "in a breeze," as in "he won in a breeze," that is, without visible effort, both examples seen early in the 20th century and probably related to the use of "breeze" to mean a gentle wind, as opposed to a stiff one. SS
hands ... In a breeze, first recorded in a baseball magazine in 1910, ...