"Bad Pancake, the theory that your first guy after a serious relationship will end in epic failure. Doomed from the start. Like the first pancake you try to make during breakfast, it ends up overcooked, undercooked or just burned" according to Urban Dictionary.
The first time I heard this term was on the hit TV show Younger, written by Darren Star who also wrote for Sex and the City. This concept sounds funny but has proven true for my friends and even myself. Your bad pancake can be your rebound man, someone who tries to get you over your ex but the relationship is usually doomed from the beginning.
If you think about it no one wants the first pancake because of the valid points made about it just being okay, not amazing. Any guy has a chance to some degree but usually after a relationship, with someone who knows everything about you, it can be awkward to try and start over. It is hard to open up again and reenter uncharted territory.
I like how this one article puts it, "The first pancake is the experiment. It's the test batch. It's the one you put on the griddle knowing that you're going to have to adjust something, whether that's the heat on the stove or the butter to batter ratio. You use the bad pancake as a means to finding a better pancake. You sacrifice the first pancake to get to the fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth delicious pancakes."
If a guy is your bad pancake, it might make you realize what you want and what you need to adjust to your life to make you happy. This guy is just a stepping stone to finding someone who is perfect for you, someone who fulfills what you need. I'm not making the point that the guy is the problem, my point is that sometimes it takes a few bad pancakes to find the perfect pancake for you, look at it on the flip side.