sell like hot cakes

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

sell like hot cakes (third-person singular simple present sells like hot cakes, present participle selling like hot cakes, simple past and past participle sold like hot cakes)

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To be sold in large numbers quickly.

   During a power outage, candles sell like hot cakes.

   • 1979, Robin Scott (lyrics and music), “Pop Muzik”:

     You're living in a disco / Forget about the rat race / Let's do the Milkshake / Selling like a hotcake

   • 2003, Jim Berkenstadt, Charles R. Cross, Nevermind: Nirvana‎^[1]:

     Geffen employees confirm that about half of the initial run of forty-six thousand [copies of Nevermind] went to the Northwest, where it sold like hot cakes.

   • 2005, G. Timothy Haight, Daniel Singer, The real estate investment handbook:

     These units will sell like hot cakes for $400000 apiece. Our cost will be $250000. It's a regular gold mine.

   • 2009 November 27, “Calendar boys get their tops off”, in John o'Groat Journal:

     CALENDARS featuring local men willing to get their kit off for charity are selling like hot cakes after hitting the market this week.

   • 2012, Cosmo Knight, The Day After the Great Trout Run:

     I sold 12 trout specials yesterday, they sold like hot cakes.

Descendants

• → Telugu: హాట్ కేకు (hāṭ kēku, “popular item”)

Translations

sell quickly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 暢銷／畅销 (zh) (chàngxiāo), 熱銷／热销 (zh) (rèxiāo), 大賣／大卖 (zh) (dàmài) (slang, neologism)

• Czech: jít na dračku impf
• Dutch: verkopen als zoete broodjes
• Finnish: mennä kuin kuumille kiville, mennä kaupaksi, tehdä kauppansa, käydä kaupaksi
• French: se vendre comme des petits pains (fr)
• German: weggehen wie warme Semmeln (de)
• Hungarian: viszik, mint a cukrot, veszik, mint a cukrot, elkapkodják
• Icelandic: fljúga út, seljast eins og heitar lummur (is), renna út
• Italian: andare a ruba
• Japanese: 飛ぶように売れる (tobu yō ni ureru)
• Norwegian: selge som varmt hvetebrød, selge som hakka møkk
• Polish: sprzedawać się jak świeże bułeczki impf, sprzedać się jak świeże bułeczki pf
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can
• Romanian: a se vinde ca pâinea caldă
• Russian: с руками оторвать (s rukami otorvatʹ, literally “to tear away with the hands”)
• Spanish: vender como churros, vender como rosquillas
• Swedish: sälja som smör, sälja som smör i solsken
• Thai: เทน้ำเทท่า (tee-náam-tee-tâa), ขายดิบขายดี (th) (kǎai-dìp-kǎai-dii)
• Vietnamese: bán chạy như tôm tươi

See also

• fly off the shelves
• like hot cakes