Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Outsider]

My question today: anyone happens to know where the expression 'the best thing since the sliced bread' comes from? Was it from a commercial?
Thanks.

[asterix]

According to Wikipedia it was from a commercial for Southern Bread in the 1940's.
You can Google it.
www.Wikipedia.com

[CP]

Greatest thing since sliced bread
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

This snippet from a 1940 newspaper advertisement is thought to be the first use of the phrase.The phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread" (or slight variations on that wording) is a commonly used hyperbolic 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",[1], although it is commonly used in the United Kingdom as well.

The phrase appears to have originated as part of an American advertising campaign in 1940. A brand of bread known as "Southern Bread" introduced a "Twin Pack" of bread, and their advert depicted various family members listing its virtues, among them the mother, who called it the "greatest convenience since sliced bread".[2]
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Outsider]

On-line English learning is THE greatest thing since sliced bread!
Thanks guys.