Greatest thing since sliced bread
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The phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread" ("best" may be substituted for "greatest", and "innovation" or "invention" may be substituted for "thing") is a commonly used hyperbolic (and sometimes sarcastic) means of praising an invention or other society-advancing development. Sliced bread - meaning pre-sliced, packaged bread - has existed only since 1928, and it appears to be something of an arbitrary selection as the benchmark against which later inventions should be judged. It has been said that "the phrase is the ultimate depiction of innovative achievement and American know-how" [link] - although it is commonly used in the United Kingdom as well (although without reference to American know-how).
A little known fact about sliced bread is that its origin can be traced back to a single place. Chillicothe, Missouri (USA), is the official "Home of Sliced Bread." Sliced bread was born in Chillicothe, Missouri, on July 7, 1928.
The popular use of the phrase appears to derive from the fact that Wonder Bread - the first mass-marketer of sliced bread as a product - launched a 1930s ad campaign touting the innovation. As one source reports, "[s]oon every new innovation of convenience was being touted as the 'greatest thing since sliced bread.'"
See also
- Snowclone — a type of formula-based cliché which uses an old idiom in a new context. "Greatest thing since X" has been seen as a snowclone.
- List of snowclones
External links
Some developments referred to as the best/greatest thing/invention since sliced bread:- [Wikipedia] Note: this is a sarcastic reference by an anti-Wikipedian.
- [The iPod (The Morning News: iPod vs. Sliced Bread)] Note: this article concludes that sliced bread is still the greater invention.
- [Handheld technology] (e.g., the PDA)
- [High-level languages for microcontrollers]
- [Thermal depolymerization]
- [Sara Lee crustless bread]
- [Multi-variable integration] (which the author then uses to calculate the volume of the bread slices).
- [Liberty] (Note: clearly hyperbole, as liberty was invented before sliced bread).
- [Uncyclopedia's best things ever list]
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