Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

Yoshiyuki · Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Posts: 61

When I first began to learn English many many years ago in Japan, we were often told that 'a hot cake' is not an English word but a Japanese word and that the correct word is 'a pan cake.' Later, however, I came across a phrase, "to sell like a hot cake", which I imagined would be an idiom derived from an old usage of the word or from some kind of a trade mark like a zerox which has become a general term of machines whose function is to photocopy printed matter. Or are these two the same? Rolling Eyes

Would anyone please tell me?
Yoshiyuki

Brian Boyd · Joined: 18 Oct 2005 Posts: 176 Location: Bangkok, Thailand

You're right Yoshiyuki,

If something sells like hotcakes it means that it is selling very well. I'm not sure what hot cakes originally were, but they must have been popular to sell so well!

An example of using this phrase:

When the Play Station 2 was first released, it sold like hot cakes.

By the way ... 'pancakes' is one word. In England we have a traditional day called Shrove Tuesday, which is often nicknamed 'Pancake Day'. It's traditional to eat pancakes on that day, and also to have pancake races.

Lorikeet · Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 1877 Location: San Francisco

I always thought hotcakes and pancakes were the same item, but the vocabulary was used in different places.

Bob S. · Joined: 29 Apr 2004 Posts: 1767 Location: So. Cal

Same here. I always thought they were synonymous, like pop and soda, just regional differences. Are griddlecakes the same? Does anybody call them something else?

iitimone7 · Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 400 Location: Indiana, USA

i love this topic, so i looked up the word pancake, and this is what i found...

pancake, griddlecake, flannel cake, flapjack are the same thing (regional)

battercake, johnnycake - made in southern USA (probably Ga, Al, La) cornmeal poured into a flat cake in a griddle and cooked on stove top

blini - from Russia...small, thin pancake served with butter, sour cream, or caviar

latke - from Russia, Ukraine, Greece...pancake made from grated potato (my mom used to make them and i didn't know origin...i don't think that she did, either - they are cheap to make)

slapjack - pancake; card game in which each player tries to slap the table when a Jack is dealt face up.

...just a bit of needless trivia for the day. iitimone7

iitimone7 · Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 400 Location: Indiana, USA

Xerox is pronounced zerox...iitimone7

Bob S. · Joined: 29 Apr 2004 Posts: 1767 Location: So. Cal

Flapjacks! That's what I forgot. Thanks.

Blini with butter and caviar is great. There's some special Russian holiday where everybody enjoys it on the same day. A kind of Spring festival, but I forget what it's called.

From blini we get blintzes (I prefer the dessert pastry type filled with apple jam or cream cheese).

The Japanese have a variation called dorayaki with red bean paste that's pretty good for a snack.

bud · Joined: 09 Mar 2003 Posts: 2111 Location: New Jersey, US

I always thought hot cakes were the same as pancakes, too.

By the way, I grew up in upstate New York in the northeast U.S. One of my favorite dishes that my Mom made was chili with johnnycake. What we called johnnycake, though, was cornbread (also called pone, I think). I think it was a little different than what Iitimone found, though, as I'm sure it was baked, not fried. It just shows that even native-speakers have trouble figuring out the exact meaning of some words/terms.

iitimone7 · Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 400 Location: Indiana, USA

well you see, bud...

as i was reading the description, the origin of johnnycake is northeastern USA...how it ever got that far south, i'll never know. as it migrated south, maybe the variation changed just a bit. iitimone7

Hayde · Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 177 Location: Icheon, Korea

This is only a theory, but other than the original posting's quote, the only time I have heard "hotcake" is at McDonald's. The is what McDonald's calls it's pancakes. Now they have been around for a long time now, so I wonder if hotcake (and "selling like hotcakes") came from there ??? Smile

_________________
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
Albert Einstein

iitimone7 · Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 400 Location: Indiana, USA

aaaaahhhhhhh...

i hadn't thought of that. i don't eat there often, so it never crossed my mind, but you're right!! iitimone7

Lorikeet · Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 1877 Location: San Francisco

Here are two links for fun:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/6/messages/241.html
http://minnesotajobs.com/info/b981212.html

advoca · Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Posts: 422 Location: Beijing

Forgive me for jumping in.

To sell like hot cakes is an old British English expression.

There is a great difference between a hot cake and a pan cake. A hot cake is a small cake baked in an oven. (A brownie is a good example of a baked cake and I am sure you know the difference between the flavour of a brownie straight from the oven and still hot and the flavour of a brownie five hours old and cold.) My grandmother owned a bakery and as a child I had the opportunity of tasting cakes that were still hot from the oven. They were delicious.

Pancakes are quite different. A pan cake is a flat cake fried in a pan (a griddle). It is flat, and is basically flour and water. The recipe is very different, and the taste is very different and pancakes are usually eaten with extra flavourings (Lemon and orange in many cases,)