Meaning
To sell very quickly and in large numbers because demand is fierce; applied to products, tickets, or anything scarce that buyers snap up as soon as it appears. Informal; originally American and now used throughout the English-speaking world, with 'go like hot cakes' and the one-word 'hotcakes' equally common. Informal and upbeat; a staple of business and marketing talk for anything in high demand. Regional use: General English (American origin).
Origin
American in origin. 'Hot cakes' were griddle cakes - pancakes, in earlier American usage often cornmeal johnny cakes - sold hot at church bakes, fairs, and markets; because they were far better hot than cold, they sold the moment they came off the griddle. The Phrase Finder traces the earliest print appearance to the Buffalo Bulletin of New York, October 1830: 'Going like hot Cakes: at one cent a-piece'. The earliest use clearly tied to selling is C. F. Briggs's novel Adventures of Harry Franco (1839): 'You had better buy 'em... they will sell like hot cakes.' The expression had spread through the English-speaking world and become established everywhere by about 1900.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- go like hotcakes
- going like hot cakes
- selling like hot cakes
Usage Examples
- The bakery's vegan croissants sold like hot cakes on Saturday morning.
- If the band prints another run of tour shirts, they will sell like hot cakes.
- Tickets for the revival are selling like hot cakes, so book early.