Would you like a phrase that can describe something you think is the best thing that has ever been invented, created or thought of? The phrase 'best thing since silced bread' is a common English saying that can be used for this. This post unpacks the meaning, origin, and common use of the expression.
Meaning
The phrase 'the best thing since sliced bread' is a common figure of speech that is mostly seen in the English language, although it is translated to some others.
When a speaker says that something is 'the best thing since sliced bread' then the saying means that something is excellent or impressive to the speaker.
It can also be used to mean that something is the very best of something.
The phrase 'best thing since sliced bread' can be used to refer to anything. The context of what is being referred to is generally specified by the speaker, or implied by the rest of the discussion.
The phrase can be said about a thing, an event, or a person.
Sometimes the phrase can be used with joking or sarcastic implications, or used in the negative form to imply that something is 'not the best thing since sliced bread'.
A similar phrase in the English language can say that something is 'the cream of the crop'. Another similar saying is to describe something as 'the bees' knees'.
Example Usage
“I never had a Slim-Jim before I went to Dave's house, and I'm telling you that it's the best thing since sliced bread. You're going to love it so much that I brought you five hundred of them from the gas station.”
“We all went to college with you and even though nobody was going to tell you about it, we thought that your mom was the best thing since sliced bread.”
“You know what I think about sandwiches at a funeral? I think that they're the best thing since sliced bread and you just can't bury grandad without them.”
“I don't know what you thought about the stage performance of Sweeney Todd, but I guarantee you that the movie version was the best thing since sliced bread.”
Origin
The origin of the phrase 'the best thing since sliced bread' is accepted by most online language resources to be from the invention of the bread-slicer and other home-making devices in the 1930s to 1940s.
The manufacturing and marketing of home appliances were at a height, and 'the best thing since sliced bread' is likely to have come into popular use around the same time.
The phrase 'sliced bread' refers to something that is new and inventive, like many of the appliances that were seen in the 1940s.
The expression would remain well into the modern era, with its meaning unchanged into the 21st century.
Website Urban Dictionary lists the phrase since 2013, even though much earlier use of the phrase was common.
Phrases Similar to The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread
- The bee's knees
- The cream of the crop
Phrases Opposite to The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread
- N/a
What is the Correct Saying?
- [it's/that's] the best thing since sliced bread
Ways People May Say The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread Incorrectly
There are several ways in which someone can misuse the phrase 'the best thing since sliced bread', or misunderstand the meaning of the saying.
The phrase 'best thing since sliced bread' is often misused as 'best thing since slice bread', which does not give the same meaning or expression.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread
There are several ways in which someone can use the expression 'the best thing since sliced bread' in the correct way.