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Up Mike's and down Jake's to see the pancakes grow

Posted by Marienka on October 10, 2007

My grandfather (b. 1904) used to say this phrase, in response to a question like, "Where have you been?" The phrase is, "Up Mike's and down Jake's to see the pancakes grow." He was a Slovak from a coal mining town in SE PA. However, a friend of mine tells me his mother (b. 1916)would use the same phrase omitting the "to see the pancakes grow". She was of Lithuanian heritage from Northern Michigan. Does anyone know the derivation of this phrase?

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