grow like Topsy

To rapidly grow or expand. Our small company has grown like Topsy over the past year, thanks in no small part to our aggressive new marketing campaign. Our puppy has grown like Topsy since we switched to a new brand of dog food.

grow like ˈTopsy

grow very fast, particularly in an unplanned or uncontrolled way: After many contributions, our website has grown like Topsy, and is now being completely revised.Topsy was a female character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

grow like Topsy

Grow very quickly. This phrase alludes to the little African-American slave girl in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1851), who when asked where she came from, replied, “I ’spect I growed. Don’t think nobody never made me.”