{"id":10320,"date":"2022-11-02T20:18:52","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T20:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=10320"},"modified":"2022-11-02T20:18:52","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T20:18:52","slug":"selling-like-hotcakes-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/selling-like-hotcakes-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Selling Like Hotcakes \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you looking for an expression to help you describe how much of a commercial success an item is? You could say that this product is \u201c<strong>selling like hotcakes<\/strong>.\u201d Keep reading to discover where this phrase originated and how to use it in a sentence.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p>The American expression \u201c<strong>selling like hotcakes<\/strong>\u201d is used to describe <u>products that are so popular they sell out as soon as they are put up for sale<\/u>. In short, the phrase means that a product is extremely successful.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase can be rephrased with any conjugation of the verb \u201cto sell,\u201d for example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sell like hotcakes<\/li>\n<li>Sold like hotcakes<\/li>\n<li>Used to sell like hotcakes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>Would you like to incorporate the saying \u201cselling like hotcakes\u201d \u2014 meaning selling extremely quickly owing to popularity \u2014 into a sentence? Take a look at these examples to get a better feel for the contexts in which the phrase is commonly used:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cNike\u2019s new sneakers always <strong>sell like hotcakes<\/strong>. If you don\u2019t preorder them, you stand no chance!\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cMy niece\u2019s homemade lemonade isn\u2019t exactly <strong>selling like hotcakes<\/strong>, but I still admire her entrepreneurial spirit.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cYou know the economy is in trouble when staples like flour and sugar start <strong>selling like hotcakes<\/strong>.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cTamagochi games <em>sold like hotcakes<\/em> in the \u201890s, but have now largely been forgotten.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>The phrase \u201c<strong>selling like hotcakes<\/strong>\u201d originated in <strong>19<sup>th<\/sup> century America<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>A \u201chotcake\u201d is a <strong>pancake<\/strong>. The hotcakes that were sold in the 19<sup>th<\/sup> century are quite different from the pancakes you may eat today, though \u2014 hotcakes were typically made with cornmeal.<\/p>\n<p>This early version of the pancake was a hit. <u>Often sold at fairs and church events, workers had trouble keeping up with the high demand \u2014 and hotcakes sold out as quickly as they were made. <\/u><\/p>\n<p>It is not surprising that this popular snack item quickly sparked a new phrase, \u201cselling like hotcakes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Few people realize that \u201chotcakes\u201d are early pancakes. The phrase stuck around, though. In the modern age, anything from NTFs to smartphones and toilet paper can \u201csell like hotcakes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite its American origin, the saying \u201cselling like hotcakes\u201d has traveled across the Atlantic Ocean, too, and British people will have no trouble understanding what you mean if you say that something sells like hotcakes.<\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to Selling Like Hotcakes<\/h2>\n<p>Are you looking for synonymous phrases? Instead of \u201cselling like hotcakes,\u201d you could also use these expressions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>[The product] <strong>is snapped up quickly<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>[The item] <strong>sells like crazy<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>[The product] <strong>is a hit<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you would prefer to use more formal language, you can also simply say that the item in question is \u201c<strong>in high demand<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Opposite to Selling Like Hotcakes<\/h2>\n<p>The opposite of a product that \u201csells like hotcakes\u201d is one that almost nobody is interested in. You\u00a0 could say that the product is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A total failure.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A dud.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Dead in the water.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What Is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<p>The correct saying is \u201c<strong>selling like hotcakes<\/strong>.\u201d This American phrase means that a product is in high demand and selling very well.<\/p>\n<h2>Ways People May Say Selling Like Hotcakes Incorrectly<\/h2>\n<p>The phrase \u201cselling like hotcakes\u201d is widespread on both sides of the Atlantic. Not many people know where it originated, though.<\/p>\n<p>If you have only ever heard the phrase verbally, it is easy to conclude that the correct saying is \u201cselling like <strong>hot cakes<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In this instance, you might think that it refers to warm cakes of any kind. Hotcake is, in fact, an archaic synonym for pancake.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Say Selling Like Hotcakes<\/h2>\n<p>You can say that something sells like hotcakes if it is a great success. The product sells out nearly as quickly as it is put up for sale, and people can\u2019t wait to get their hands on it.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase is usually reserved for mass-produced items. You shouldn\u2019t say that an exclusive collection of five products sold like hotcakes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Are you looking for an expression to help you describe how much of a commercial success an item is? You could say that this product is \u201cselling like hotcakes.\u201d Keep reading to discover where this phrase originated and how to use it in a sentence. Meaning The American expression \u201cselling like hotcakes\u201d is used to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10320"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10320"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10322,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10320\/revisions\/10322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}