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Sell like hot cakes

Posted by ESC on October 11, 2000

In Reply to: Selling like hotcakes posted by kirsten benson on October 11, 2000

: what is the origin/meaning of the phrase "selling like hotcakes"?

: thanks

SELL LIKE HOT CAKES - "Hot cakes cooked in bear grease or pork lard were popular from earliest times in American. First made of cornmeal, the griddle cakes or pancakes were of course best when served piping hot and were often sold at church benefits, fairs, and other functions. So popular were they that by the beginning of the 19th century 'to sell like hot cakes' was a familiar expression for anything that sold very quickly effortlessly, and in quantity." From Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997)

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