CHIPS OR BREAD

[RedSpider]

The best thing since sliced bread. The best thing since chips.
But which came first? Chips or sliced bread?
If sliced bread came before chips then surely everybody should stop saying 'the best thing since sliced bread' because it would mean that chips are the best thing since sliced bread meaning that the saying should actually be 'the best thing since chips.
both sayings cannot be used because one came before the other.
even if you dont like chips or sliced bread, you have to marvel at their domination of the culinary world.

discuss.

[Krypton]

i like chips. nay sir. i LOVE chips. but sliced bread is more versatile than chips. a hard one indeed.
even if sliced bread was first. i've had a few packets of sliced bread and ive also had unsliced. imho unsliced bread tastes better. sliced bread thinks its all that. but it isnt

[Evastar]

I love bread and chips, with lots of butter and ketchup

The chips have to be really hot to melt the butter and heat the bread, mmmm....... lovely

[RedSpider]

this is not a thread about whether chips are better than sliced bread or vice versa.
nor is it a thread extolling the virtues of either.
it is simply to determine which came first and therefore which of the 2 sayings is the right one to use.

discuss properly

[Krypton]

chips came first and in my opinion the saying should be 'best thing since chips' as chips have no equal and bread can be bested by other foodstuffs

[Evastar]

Chips couldn't have come first because potatoes were only brought over to Europe from the New World by Sir Walter Raleigh.

Whereas people have been baking bread for thousands of years, although it wouldn't have been sliced, as in a sliced pan.

[Krypton]

i do not doubt that bread came first. however, the thread is not about bread per se. it is about SLICED bread. i believe that chips came before sliced bread.

[Evastar]

Ok, well technically everyone slices their bread before they eat it and would have done before chips were around, but chips would have been around before the sliced pan.

[Krypton]

after some research it would appear that sliced bread appeared in 1928 whereas chips seem to have been first consumed in belgium around 1680.
my point sir, is proven.
i have actually reasearched and argued about bread and chips.
damn you redspider for bringing me to this.
damn you to hell

[RedSpider]

it may well be that chips came before sliced bread. after all the desire for a chip butty would be all the necessity you would need to come up with the idea of sliced bread. but at the same time if sliced bread was first then the desire for something brilliant to go on it would be all the necessity you would need to invent chips. i have done no research on this as it seems silly to do so over something so trivial.
if that is the case then the correct saying is' best thing since sliced bread'.
unsliced bread may taste better than sliced bread but you can't doubt the convenience of sliced bread.
you may prefer unsliced bread but i doubt you refuse to buy sliced bread. its convenience and simplistic brilliance is for all to see. it must be acknowledged

[Krypton]

acknowledged yes, sliced bread is good. but according to some sources, the chip butty revolved around wanting something to accompany chips, this from wikipedia

Although it is hotly debated, french fries were named after the Earl of Sandwich who, while playing cards, wanted to eat a potato but did not want to get his hands dirty.

[Mjolinor]

Doesn't matter which came first, the are both right to use.

If chips are not as good as sliced bread and sliced bread came first then something can be the best thing since chips, totally appropriate because it's not as good as sliced bread, if it were better than sliced bread then it is also appropriate to be the best thing since sliced bread

If sliced bread is not as good as chips and chips came first then something can be the best thing since sliced bread, totally appropriate because it's not as good as chips, if it were better than chips then it is also appropriate to be the best thing since chips

In the case where sliced bread came first and chips are better than sliced bread there is nothing wrong with saying "the best thing since sliced bread", this also includes " the best thing since chips". If the thing is better than sliced bread but not as good as chips then neither saying is appropriate.

In the case where chips came first and sliced bread is better than chips there is nothing wrong with saying "the best thing since chips", this also includes " the best thing since sliced bread". If the thing is better than chips but not as good as sliced bread then neither saying is appropriate.

Logic
I am normal, honest.
That baked my noodle somewhat.

[RedSpider]

ok, so its settled what came first and the saying should be 'best thing since sliced bread' but what actually is the 'best thing since sliced bread'?
my choices are parcel tape or tin foil.

discuss

[Krypton]

sinclair zx81.
rover 200,400,600,800

[gmb45]

Doesn't matter which came first, the are both right to use.

If chips are not as good as sliced bread and sliced bread came first then something can be the best thing since chips, totally appropriate because it's not as good as sliced bread, if it were better than sliced bread then it is also appropriate to be the best thing since sliced bread

If sliced bread is not as good as chips and chips came first then something can be the best thing since sliced bread, totally appropriate because it's not as good as chips, if it were better than chips then it is also appropriate to be the best thing since chips

In the case where sliced bread came first and chips are better than sliced bread there is nothing wrong with saying "the best thing since sliced bread", this also includes " the best thing since chips". If the thing is better than sliced bread but not as good as chips then neither saying is appropriate.

In the case where chips came first and sliced bread is better than chips there is nothing wrong with saying "the best thing since chips", this also includes " the best thing since sliced bread". If the thing is better than chips but not as good as sliced bread then neither saying is appropriate.

Logic
I am normal, honest.
That baked my noodle somewhat.

The popular use of the phrase derives from the fact that Wonder Bread, the first mass-marketer of sliced bread as a product, launched a 1930s ad campaign touting the innovation.

The original potato chip recipe was created by chef George Crum at Moon's Lake House near Saratoga Springs, New York, on August 24, 1853. Fed up with a customer who continued to send his fried potatoes back complaining that they were too thick and soggy, Crum decided to slice the potatoes so thin that they could not be eaten with a fork. As they could not be fried normally in a pan, he decided to stir-fry the potato slices. Against Crum's expectation, the guest was ecstatic about the new chips and they soon became a regular item on the lodge's menu, under the name "Saratoga Chips." They eventually became popular throughout New York and New England. One version of this story credits John Harvey Kellogg (the brother of the Dr. Kellogg who founded the company which bears the family name) as the customer who wanted them thinner; another identifies him as Cornelius Vanderbilt.

In the 20th century, potato chips spread beyond chef-cooked restaurant fare and began to be mass produced for home consumption; Dayton, Ohio-based Mike-sell's Potato Chip Company, founded in 1910, calls itself the "oldest potato chip company in the United States. so it should be the best thing since sliced chips