英语博客-北美风情 200、Explaining English idioms – To sell like hot cakes; They can’t make them fast enough.

 　　Here’s an episode¹ all about popular items. The expressions we talk about are used when something is in demand, which means that people are buying a lot of it. You can use these expressions to talk about the trendiest items of the moment. For example, new Apple products always sell like hot cakes. They can’t seem to make them fast enough! Listen to this episode and learn more about these expressions and others.

 

　　What is a Member?

 

　　Maura: So, if we imagine that in the past, at a special event like a fair or some kind of community gathering², there would be a person who was making hotcakes and selling them and they were very popular. So lots of people would buy them, they were in high demand. Well, that’s where the origin of this expression is supposed to have come from.

 

　　Harp³: OK. That makes sense.

 

　　Maura: Right. So now we can use this expression, selling like hotcakes, to talk about a whole variety of items. And usually this expression is not used to talk about food.

 

　　Harp: Yeah. It’s usually an object, not food.

 

　　Maura: Right. So this expression originated⁴ from the popularity⁵ of hotcakes, or pancakes, and now we use this expression to talk about some kind of item that people love and they buy a lot of.

1 episode   

n.（作品的一段）情节，插曲，系列事件中之一

参考例句：

• The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
• This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

4 originated   

v.起源于，来自，产生( originate的过去式和过去分词 )；创造；创始；开创

参考例句：

• The disease is thought to have originated in the tropics. 这种疾病据说起源于热带地区。
• The art of portrait miniatures was originated in England. 微型画像艺术创始于英国。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。