What was the best thing before sliced bread

The phrase “the best thing since sliced bread” is a common idiom used to describe something that is considered to be very good or excellent. The origin of the phrase comes from the invention of pre-sliced bread in the 1920s, which made it more convenient to purchase and eat bread. Before sliced bread, people had to slice the bread themselves using a knife, which could be time-consuming and difficult. The phrase is used to imply that the thing being described is an improvement over something that was previously considered to be very good.

The phrase is not meant to be taken literally, it is a figure of speech and there is no one “best thing” before sliced bread. However, some people jokingly suggest that the wheel, fire, or even bread itself could be considered as the “best thing” before sliced bread.