# Question about a phrase \[selling like hotcakes\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-phrase-selling-like-hotcakes/776002 "2016-12-31T22:19:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dana\_Scully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@Dana\_Scully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana_Scully)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-phrase-selling-like-hotcakes/776002/1 "2016-12-31T22:19:25Z")
Where did the phrase “selling like hotcakes” come from? ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-phrase-selling-like-hotcakes/776002/2 "2016-12-31T23:06:28Z")
You really should have put the questin in the title. You also really should have tried a search: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=713335&highlight=Sell+hotcakes](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=713335&highlight=Sell+hotcakes) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-phrase-selling-like-hotcakes/776002/3 "2016-12-31T23:38:08Z")
**Moderator Note** Thread title edited to more clearly indicate the topic. > [@Arkcon](#): > > You really should have put the questin in the title. > > You also really should have tried a search: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=713335&highlight=Sell+hotcakes](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=713335&highlight=Sell+hotcakes) Also, please do not tell people how easy it is to search and find the answer. If it’s that easy to find, just post the answer. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-phrase-selling-like-hotcakes/776002/4 "2016-12-31T23:42:37Z")
This is from the thread that **Arkcon** linked to: > [@So, how well DID hotcakes sell?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-well-did-hotcakes-sell/679023/2): > > According to [The Word Detective](http://www.word-detective.com/2010/01/selling-like-hotcakes/), the phrase dates back to 1839, but there was no one particular hotcake fad that inspired it. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-phrase-selling-like-hotcakes/776002/5 "2017-01-01T20:12:34Z")
All I can add is that hot cakes disappear damn fast around here. Like so many cliches its origin is obscure, but it is believed to be American from the 19th C. > [@](#): > > etymologists are left to assume that since hotcakes have always been popular at events like county fairs and church socials, where the crowd greatly outnumbers the culinary staff and the cakes often sell as fast as they can be made, the term was coined and spread through popular usage. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-phrase-selling-like-hotcakes/776002/6 "2017-01-02T15:05:45Z")
IIRC, back in the 60s when the Ford Mustang was all the craze, a certain breakfast restaurant ran a turn on the phrase: “Our Hotcakes are selling like Mustangs!”