good [OE] The ancient root of good probably meant ‘to bring together, unite’ which was also the source of gather [OE]. In 1957 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan said, ‘Let us be frank about it: most of our people have never had it so good’. You Never Had It So Good was the US Democratic Party slogan during the 1952 election campaign. Also in 1952, Kentucky Fried Chicken opened its first outlet, and for many years its slogan has been ‘It’s finger-lickin’ good’. Good Friday, the Friday before Easter Day, on which Christ was crucified, uses good in an old sense ‘observed as holy’. Our word goodbye [L16th] is actually a shortened form of the phrase God be with you. In time good replaced God, in line with phrases such as good morning and goodnight. Sweets and cakes have been goodies since the mid 18th century, and the childish exclamation goody is first recorded not much later. Goody goody gumdrops dates from the 1930s.