Sliced Bread

 

“It's the greatest thing since sliced bread!”

That's what some of the enthusiasts said about a singing group that was to be the attraction at a fund-raiser they were planning. I'm sure it was intended as a compliment.^i,ii I'm equally sure that those using the expression were unfamiliar with freshly-baked, warm, crisp, uncut bread of the kind that doesn't come in packages and that lacks the additives now used to increase shelf-life.

Statements like that – substitutions of trite aphorisms and words for more original thoughts – are too commonly heard, especially in the Twitter generation.

And that's the way it is with many expressions currently in use. People, thinking themselves clever, mouth clichés which may have no particular concrete associations for them, but which they learned long ago and have used without thought ever since. In the urban society in which most Americans live, most of us have never seen a haystack, but we know with certainty how hard it would be to find a needle hidden in one. And we're always able to spot someone wet behind the ears even if we've never seen a newborn farm animal. And many of those who do a Houdini don't understand where the term arose. And they're surely even less certain about the situation of someone with the Midas touch who is as rich as Croesus.ⁱⁱⁱ They probably wish they were he. But should they? Ancient history and mythology are low priorities in our twenty-first century education, so these expressions will likely die out soon.

But some persist, and they color and, to a degree, confuse our thoughts. No Brit would want to be sent to Coventry, but an American would view it as a trip to see a world famous cathedral. And we wait for the day when, in respect to our enemies, the shoe will be on the other foot, not realizing that this would mean an improvement for them.

Some aphorisms, however, go further and may be used to control us. The worst of these^iv is the caution against reinventing the wheel. The idea is one that, in addition to being a denigration of original thinkers, inhibits unconventional thought. The implication is that the use of a previously perfected method will save time and effort – that someone has already spent the time working out the problem and you can save yourself the effort if you follow his way.

Of course inherent in such an idea is the assumption that you want a wheel – that it is best suited to solve the problem you are facing, whatever it is. But that isn't always the case, so by preventing you from thinking about new approaches to the problem, the speaker ensures a lack of progress. It's all well-intentioned, but it may be ill-considered.

There's a lot to be said for^v clichés. But their use tends to limit rather than to extend our ideas on particular subjects. When we use expressions uncritically, we may sound as if we understand what we are saying, even as their use allows us to speak without thinking. A hackneyed phrase,^vi if it new to the listener, may seem fresh and clever as he extends its life another generation. But more often, it sounds trite, even if it is understood by the audience. Consequently it doesn't impress those who hear it. The speaker doesn't sound clever. Rather, the words are likely to be recognized as an expression of laziness and rhetorical poverty. It's better to experiment with new ways of saying something rather than to rely on the wheel alone.

Oh. And as for the singing group, I prefer fresh, crisp, unsliced bread.^vii

Next episode: “Reign, Reign, Go Away” – Fa, la, la, la, la, la.

i     “The greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.” That was the advertising slogan of the Chillicothe Baking Company, the manufacturers of Kleen Maid Sliced Bread, in 1928.

ii     Actually the group is quite popular.

iii    Some terms, like boycott, Oscar, and mesmerize, which derive from more recent figures, will probably persist.

iv     In my view. Actually you know that from last week's harangue.

v     And against

vi    What American, though familiar with the term “hack,” as in “hack stand,” knows what a hackney is or, for that matter, where Hackney is?

vii    Preferably with butter and salt.