APAD: It's the greatest thing since sliced bread

Meaning:

What a great idea (often expressed in a somewhat sarcastic way)

 

Background:

 

In 1928, Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa produced the first

commercially viable bread slicing machine. It was first put into use by the

Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri who advertised the resulting product as

"the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped". It

is believed that this slogan provided the genesis of the "the greatest thing

since sliced bread" - which became a popular phrase around the middle of the

20th century.

 

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After decades of trying to invent, create, and prove myself smart with little

success, I started to doubt. Is it possible that all the greatest things before

and since sliced bread deliver us not? Labor-saving machines, e.g., turn out

abundance and make living more comfortable and yet comfort, above some level,

seems to hit diminishing returns.

 

An overdose can hurt, actually. When I was little, I dreamed to be a scientist,

the kind that don white coats, sit in the office, and have chauffeurs to drive

them around. (At the time, there were probably less than a dozen automobiles in

our little town.) Nowadays, everyone drives and people get sick more often from

a sedentary life style and maybe too much bread.

所有跟帖： 

• I often wondered that too: is the internet I helped build ( -最西边的岛上- ♀ (147 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 10:01:24

• Internet is good! You've got my vote :-) -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 10:23:14

• great4 like me with deviated sense of humor , I comprehended -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 10:13:14

• Can't ask more than comprehension & maybe understanding :-) -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 10:25:18

• The workers on the beam in my article might eat sliced bread -唐宋韵- ♂ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 11:27:25

• Another reader suggested they might eat French fries. -唐宋韵- ♂ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 11:29:01

• Once they retire, that's when they should be careful. -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 13:47:46

• I dare not imagine having lunch with those guys :-) -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 13:45:08

• How about with them in a restaurant? -唐宋韵- ♂ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 13:56:51

• Sure. Irish pub shepherd's pie. Anytime :-) -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 14:49:06

• It's the greatest thing since a cook robot !!! -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 12:16:59

• No, before a real robot cook... haha -唐宋韵- ♂ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 13:08:00

• 快了，快了，LOL -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 13:09:06

• You hate cooking that much, huh? -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 13:48:30

• LOL -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/10/2024 postreply 07:37:53

• My chiropractor: Human is not built for sedentary life style -方外居士- ♂ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 13:25:33

• Let me know if he/she needs someone to testify :-) -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 13:49:40

• To testify he is wrong? -方外居士- ♂ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 14:12:20

• testify:serve as evidence or proof of something's existing -7grizzly- ♀ (334 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 14:39:54

• Wah, obvously I was thinking in a Chinglish way! -方外居士- ♂ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 14:51:20

• He already has enough evidence to prove. Thx on his behalf ! -方外居士- ♂ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 14:52:36

• NP. Sure he must have :-) -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/09/2024 postreply 15:03:25

• 面包的一小步，厨房的一大步：）） -卫宁- ♂ (0 bytes) () 01/10/2024 postreply 09:51:03

• AI is the greatest thing since sliced bread :) -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/10/2024 postreply 18:23:36