não passasse de uma brincadeira

23:58 Mar 14, 2022 

I appreciate the additional input. Responding to Barbara first. While "frolicking butterflies" may sound like a good translation, it considerably changes the meaning intended by the author. As I said earlier, she meant to say it was a very easy task, "Frolic" denotes playful, cheerful, energetic, so that's why I ruled it out. Sorry. Phil, as far as "duck soup", I do recognize that it's sort of archaic, so I removed it from the glossary. All: between the other options, "a cinch" is my new choice for the book: https://www.google.com/search?q="nothing but a cinch" (Whatever I choose, the final decision will not be made until after the translation has been thoroughly reviewed.)

19:23 Mar 14, 2022 

But that American movie, which was released in 1933, must have been mostly buried at the back of American minds by the time I was a child, almost 25 years later. Although there are still some buffs who like the comedic old-time films, and who must surely keep it in mind.

18:35 Mar 14, 2022 

The only thing I recall about "duck soup" is the marx brothers film of the same name. And to be honest I have never heard of it in any other context, and as a conservative estimate I would guess that neither have more than 99% of the (still alive) world population of English speakers...which is fine if you dont want anybody to know "Wha'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" ho ho ho :-)

16:23 Mar 14, 2022 

Agree w/ phil's assessment re: "duck soup". Also, re: the translation I offered, lots of references on the Net for "frolicking butterflies".

16:09 Mar 14, 2022 

I think "duck soup" is wrong. It's no longer used, and no one will understand it. "Easy peasy" (used both in the UK and the US), "child's play" or "a breeze" would have been much better.

14:22 Mar 14, 2022 

Thank you all for your sugestions. According to the author:
"Brincadeira", nessa frase, é usado no sentido de algo muito fácil. (as I had guessed)

Within my particular context, "easy peasy" and "a breeze" were the closest in meaning. "Easy peasy" is not an option since it's mostly British: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/easy... As far as "a breeze", it doesn't seem to fit in as nicely as "duck soup".

My final translation: nothing but duck soup for a big bitterly with open wings.

"nothing but duck soup": https://www.google.com/search?q="nothing but duck soup"

duck soup: something very easy to do: something easy to do
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/duck soup

Thanks again.