News3 mins ago
phrase
2 Answers
sell like hotcakes
Answers
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by dinky1. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.The earliest-recorded use of the phrase is in a book by C F Briggs published in 1839. In that, there is a sentence which reads: "You had better buy 'em, Colonel," said Mr Lummucks, "they will sell like hot cakes."
Presumably, the idea behind the phrase is that the busiest time in a bakery-shop is likely to be when a new batch of bread/cakes is brought through and the warm, tempting smell is wafting out onto the pavement. That is certainly likely to bring customers pouring in...and send cakes pouring out!
Where, in heaven's name - did that upside-down question mark come from...apart from Spain? Yesterday, it was definitely an apostrophe!
I suspect the new, improved AnswerBank is up to mischief, since it has already this morning failed to produce a blue-coloured clickable link I tried to provide in a 'Food & Drink' question.
The next few days could be interesting!