# Best thing since sliced bread? What does it mean?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-thing-since-sliced-bread-what-does-it-mean/234235>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 14, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-thing-since-sliced-bread-what-does-it-mean/234235 "2004-03-14T15:45:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-thing-since-sliced-bread-what-does-it-mean/234235/1 "2004-03-14T15:45:41Z")

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I know how that expresion is used, but what is so special about sliced bread?

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-thing-since-sliced-bread-what-does-it-mean/234235/2 "2004-03-14T16:41:37Z")

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Only that commercially pre-sliced bread didn’t exist before 1928, when a bread slicing machine invented by a guy named Otto Rohwedder came into use, together with the idea of machine wrapping the loaf so it wouldn’t go stale. A lot of people probably found it convenient, and said “why didn’t anybody think of this before”:

[http://www.foodreference.com/html/fslicedbread.html](http://www.foodreference.com/html/fslicedbread.html)

As to why the saying has survived an era when pre-sliced bread was a clever thing people hadn’t seen before, I don’t know.

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**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-thing-since-sliced-bread-what-does-it-mean/234235/3 "2004-03-14T16:43:00Z")

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Sliced bread is instantly usable;ergo, more convenient. No looking for a knife to slice through a baked loaf, or a board on which to place it. No crumbs to sweep away. AND a wrapper to keep it tidy and fresh. What more could you want? Well,I guess some PB&J to smear on it!