- slice (n.)
- c.1300, "a fragment," from O.Fr. esclis "splinter," a back-formation from esclicier "to splinter," from Frank. *slitan "to split" (cf. O.H.G. slizan; see slit). Meaning "piece cut from something" emerged c.1420. Meaning "a slicing stroke" (in golf, tennis) is recorded from 1886. Slice of life (1895) translates Fr. tranche de la vie, a term from Fr. Naturalist literature.
- slice (v.)
- c.1420, from from M.Fr. esclicier (see slice (n.)). Sliced bread introduced 1958; greatest thing since ... first attested 1969.
"No matter how thick or how thin you slice it it's still baloney." [Carl Sandburg, "The People, Yes," 1936]