# "Flat as a pancake" in American vernacular **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301 "2022-05-29T14:15:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/41 "2022-05-30T17:14:09Z")
Ahh, that’s a very different thing. And not the meaning I’d taken. Not that I’m @dtilque, but you fooled me too. If you lived in/near Miami as I do, you’d understand that a dozen ever-higher highrises are under construction at any time and a new tallest seems to come about every few months. Collapses are, thankfully, a _bit_ more rare. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/42 "2022-05-30T17:36:50Z")
It might be noted that in USglish, “pancake” is also used as a verb, as in “_When the Flat-Earth rocket guy’s parachute failed, he pancaked in the desert_”. In this case, the flatness pertains to the relative aspect ratio of the result as compared to what it was before – absolute thinness when pancaking is not as important as the flatness of at least one surface which did not have that particular aspect of flatness before it pancaked. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/43 "2022-05-30T18:55:56Z")
The true battle will be between the Slice and the Tavern Cut. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/44 "2022-05-30T19:07:01Z")
Ah. I see you’re a fan of Special Ops. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/45 "2022-05-30T20:02:03Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I didn’t mean this, although from the second half of your comment maybe you did understand my tasteless attempt at humor? Given recent events, I was implying that in a few weeks the current second-tallest building in Miami might become the tallest. No I didn’t understand that humor. Still don’t. What recent events do you mean? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/46 "2022-05-30T20:05:14Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > What recent events do you mean? I’m guessing the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building in suburban Miami, last year. > **[Surfside condominium collapse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfside_condominium_collapse)** > > On June 24, 2021, at approximately 1:22 a.m. EDT,\[a\] Champlain Towers South, a 12-story beachfront condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside, Florida, United States, partially collapsed, causing the deaths of 98 people. Four people were rescued from the rubble, but one died of injuries shortly after arriving at the hospital. Eleven others were injured. Approximately thirty-five were rescued the same day from the un-collapsed portion of the building, which was demolished ten days late A contr... ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/47 "2022-05-30T20:09:06Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’m guessing the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building in suburban Miami, last year Ah, I’d forgotten about that. Not quite recent enough for my aging memory. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/48 "2022-05-30T22:25:38Z")
When I see “flat as a pancake”, it makes me think of the Bugs Bunny cartoon with Christopher Columbus. You can see King Ferdinand waving around the pancake at the beginning of this clip: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TBv3_0j0y_4/hqdefault.jpg ""She's flat like your head!" - Bugs Bunny - "Hare We Go" - Christopher Columbus") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBv3_0j0y_4) ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/49 "2022-05-30T23:09:42Z")
As someone who has cycled the length and breadth of Kansas I can confirm that some of the bubbles in the batter are quite steep. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/50 "2022-05-30T23:16:49Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > To me, as a Brit, I think immediately of the crepe-style pancakes, that are dinner-plate sized, and just a few millimetres thick. So “pancake” implies to me not just very flat but also rather thin. > > But Americans more typically eat (stacks of) the palm-sized, thicker pancakes, right? So do Americans use the phrase “flat as a pancake” and does it still imply _thin_ as well as flat? To get back to the breakfast table, restaurant pancakes in the U.S. in my experience are typically fairly thin, up to several mm thick unless they contain something like fruit. In any case “flat as a pancake” just refers to flatness and not thinness. There are temporary hillocks if you overdo pats of butter. The first place I think of with respect to “flat as a pancake” is Kansas, but there are locations that rival or exceed it. To name another, there’s coastal Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/51 "2022-05-30T23:44:08Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > When I see “flat as a pancake”, it makes me think of the Bugs Bunny cartoon with Christopher Columbus. You can see King Ferdinand waving around the pancake at the beginning of this clip: This is exactly what I was going to post! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/52 "2022-05-30T23:56:01Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > IANA expert, but Saskatchewan seems to be simply a larger & colder Kansas. A few hills at the western border, otherwise real flat, but continuously sloping downwards to the east. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5a44JX4wdC8/maxresdefault.jpg "Kinda Flat") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a44JX4wdC8) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/53 "2022-05-31T00:04:09Z")
Hey, there’s the grain elevator in that clip. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/54 "2022-05-31T00:06:43Z")
Growing up in Wisconsin, we had several nicknames for people from Illinois: the least derogatory was “Flatlanders,” due to the perceived flatness of Illinois, compared to Wisconsin. (Though, I have no doubt that Kansas makes Illinois look like Colorado, by comparison.) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/55 "2022-05-31T00:18:06Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I have no doubt that Kansas makes Illinois look like Colorado, by comparison That is particularly absurd. I have seen far more topography in Kansas than I have in Illinois. Moreover, if you head east out of Denver, it will take you at least an hour to get to the Kansas border, and the only way to tell you are actually in Kansas is the welcome sign. About 40% of Colorado looks exactly like Kansas except for the signs. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/56 "2022-05-31T00:19:24Z")
I have driven through Kansas a couple times, and flown over it innumerable times. I’ve done the same over west Texas. There is no comparison. West Texas is flat like a billiard table. Kansas is flat like a lake on a windy day. One gently undulates a bit; the other is FLAT!!!11!1!!!1! to the limit of your ability to perceive. Having grown up at the beach in So Cal, I’ve seen very bumpy mountains and I’ve seen very flat oceans just by turning around while standing in place. West Texas is disorientingly, disturbingly, scarily flat. it makes calm oceans look hilly. Kansas is not like that. Quite. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/57 "2022-05-31T00:22:06Z")
I think we can safely say the reason the north winds are so cold in West Texas is that there is nothing between Lubbock and the North Pole but a couple of barb wire fences. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/58 "2022-05-31T00:22:20Z")
You can see my office in this picture. > **[File:Regina from Number 1 Highway.jpg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Regina_from_Number_1_Highway.jpg)** ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/59 "2022-05-31T00:23:06Z")
@Northern_Piper just above … That’s one hell of a view you have from up there in the corner office. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301/60 "2022-05-31T00:25:43Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > West Texas is flat like a billiard table. That is true if you are north of Sweetwater. However, if you take I-10 west, you get into some rather non-flat terrain not too far out of San Antonio. At least, along where the freeway goes. If you really want to see suffocatingly flat, drive from Grand Forks ND to Rugby. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-as-a-pancake-in-american-vernacular/965301.md?page=4)