greatest thing since sliced bread

greatest thing since sliced bread

English

Sliced bread: the universal benchmark of greatness.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

greatest thing since sliced bread

1. (idiomatic) Something very good, especially a relatively recent invention likely to improve people's lives.
   • 1962, Jeanne Boardman, letter to "Hints from Heloise", St. Joseph, Missouri, Gazette (Wednesday, December 19, 1962), page 5:

     This column is about the greatest thing since sliced bread.

   • 1978, Joe Girard, Stanley H. Brown, How to Sell Anything to Anybody, page 104:

     Because if he starts to write a check for the full amount and I say, "Take off $250", or "I'll throw in door-guard trim and five steel radials for nothing", Charley is going to think I am the greatest thing since sliced bread.

   • 2007, David S. Platt, Why Software Sucks: ...and What You Can Do About It, page 208:

     It was the greatest thing since sliced bread when it first came out, and I remember selling a big project to a customer by demonstrating it.

Synonyms

• best thing since sliced bread
• best thing since sliced pan

Translations

(idiomatic) a relatively recent invention

French: mieux que le fil à couper le beurre German: das Größte seit der Erfindung der Bratkartoffel

Swedish: det bästa sedan skivat bröd

See also

• greatest thing since sliced bread on Wikipedia.Wikipedia