Here are a couple of neologisms which appear to have come into to use for the first time either in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s. It looks as though they might be on their way out now but that’s just my hunch. Often the words are used unkindly and can be offensive so caution should always be used. E.G.
" Dave, you never checked the oil in your car? Why, of all the stupid, BRAIN-DEAD things to do!"
"I’m Black. They say I’m supposed to be BRAIN-DEAD."
" Rush Limbaugh? There’s a NO-BRAINER for you."
"If you ask me, we don’t belong in Iraq and I think the whole idea of trying to bring democracy there is a NO-BRAINER."
Have any of you heard examples of these words used that you would like to share?
[quote author=brian_costello link=board=wordsuggest;num=1080935259;start=0#3 date=04/06/04 at 02:14:55] Your examples are valid but the word (No-brainier) has slightly more nuances than you ascribe to it.
Brian,
It sounds as though we use the term with completely separate meanings, not different nuances.
You define "no-brainer" as
The word can refer to a dumb or stupid person or a person perceived as being so.
The word can also refer to a dumb or unworkable idea.
Like Katy, I would define it as
something so simple [little or] no brains were needed.
This is in almost complete contrast to your definition, because with this definition, someone would have to be very stupid to NOT perform a "no-brainer" action.
I live in Vancouver, which is about a two-hour drive from Seattle. It’s interesting to have two places so close to have such different meanings.
I suspect that it’s not as much a regional difference as it is different people taking different meaning from slang terms. I am sure that there are people in Vancouver who would understand your definition, and people in Seattle who would understand mine.
Brian, I have to admit, I’m stumped with your insistence that "no-brainer" can mean stupid. I know not, and am unable to find, any references that corroborate such an understanding of the phrase, except when intentionally forcing a turn of phrase.
Global Gourmet proposes their Thanksgiving No-Brainer guide to holiday preparation, not for the stupid people, but for the people who want it easy!
When the Detroit News states Eliminating steel tariffs is a no-brainer, they don’t mean it’s brainless! "By revoking trade taxes, President Bush would help steel consumers, boost manufacturing, open world trade talks and improve his political standing."
Investors may rue the unit sales shortfall at Apple, but Wall Street can’t punish the stock any worse than it already has. In fact, Morningstar.com calls buying Apple’s stock at today’s price of $19.50 a "no-brainer."
They certainly weren’t saying only stupid people should buy the stock!
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, 3rd Edition, states:
Something that is absurdly simple or easy and requires little thought: "Making pumpkin pie can be a no-brainer if you use frozen pastry and canned filling."
From my brief, but sufficient, searching, the only instances where the phrase "no brainer" means something other than "absurdly easy" is when it is a double-entendre.
That, of course, is based on sites of native English speakers. Who knows what you may find out there in the nether realms…
I’ve found one definition which seems to bear out your point from THE TEEN SLANG DICTIONARY:
N
no brainer - a thought or idea that can be comprehended even if the person has no brain.
However, the word must have more than one definition because I’ve heard people refer to some of the talk show hosts like Barry Farber and Rush Limbaugh as "no-brainers". It’s not uncommon for slang words to have two or three definititions. One can see that simply by looking in NTC’s Dictionary of American Slang.
Nevertheless, If you all are going by the latest hip definition of the word I suppose you’re right. :-*
I’m stumped with your insistence that "no-brainer" can mean stupid.
Katy and Monrad are right; Brian is wrong.
I’m a little surprised at the black-and-white responses against Brian.
"No-brainer" is not a dictionary-defined word (yet! and I’m not counting the teen slang dictionary). I believe its usage is as most of us (okay, well, ALL of us except Brian) understand it, but it’s certainly acceptable for people to use it differently.
If you had never heard "no-brainer" used before, I think either of the definitions could make sense (i.e. it’s not a "bad" = "good" situation).
Because I had been exposed to one definition, Brian’s understanding of the word hadn’t occured to me. I’m glad he brought it up!
On the other hand, Brian,
Be careful you’re not suffering from a little tunnel vision here. ‘No-brainer’ the way I’ve heard people use it is really more of a multi-purpose word than you think.
I don’t think the issue here is tunnel vision or multi-purpose-ness ( ) . Your definition isn’t any more multi-purpose than ours! It’s just different.
[quote author=monrad link=board=wordsuggest;num=1080935259;start=0#13 date=04/07/04 at 12:02:09]"No-brainer" is not a dictionary-defined word (yet! and I’m not counting the teen slang dictionary).
I provided a reputable source and definition. However, as I stated in my previous post, I do submit that turns of phrase may have introduced some ambiguity.
[quote author=brian_costello link=board=wordsuggest;num=1080935259;start=0#10 date=04/07/04 at 03:50:31]Dear Palewriter,
You’ve made a statement. However, statements mean nothing by themselves unless you have facts and sources to back them up. Anyone who has taken debate knows this.
Dear Brian,
My statement was offered not as a fact but as an opinion. I can choose whether to provide sources or not, just as you can choose to agree or disagree. An unsupported statement may lose credibility but not meaning.
I don’t know what you mean by "take debate". Do you mean as a subject in school? I can’t remember that far back. I do make categorical statements without quoting sources or providing documentation, though, on a routine basis. It’s part of what makes me so lovable.
i have to say that i, too, disagree with brian. never in my slang-filled years have i heard "no-brainer" used to mean stupid. i don’t find it impossible that brian misheard or misunderstood people using the term "correctly" (if i may be so bold as to assign right and wrong denotations to the term).
eg. someone referring to rush limbaugh’s statements as "no-brainers" because they were so obviously right or wrong (depending on the commenter), not because they were stupid.
i also don’t find it impossible that brian correctly heard someone using the term incorrectly. like buzz, for instance. ;D (oh come on, brian, just kidding).
however, i suppose we all must be open-minded when such issues arise. who knows what regional metamorphoses occur without our permission or knowledge. case in point: in alabama, where i grew up, a toboggan is a shape-of-the-head-fitting winter cap, like this poor kid (who is now immortalized in the Agora) is wearing. http://www.math.duke.edu/~blake/troop412/photos/Camporee_Apr02/toboggan.jpg
that’s certainly a regionally-specific denotation for that word. i get insulted by yankees every winter for using it! ;) they say it can’t be a definition. but it most certainly is, despite the fact that the AHD might disagree. so i can’t absolutely say brian is wrong, but i’d be willing to say (yes, without data) that there are only a very, very few people in the entire world who this alternative definition. and aren’t we lucky to have one of them with us? (i meant that sincerely).
Now Comcast (Cable TV ) is running an add saying "This year our Christmas present was a no-brainer…"
I think I’m just going to give up on this word a write a book someday caled Good Words, Bad Words. If Richard Lederer can right a funky little book called CRAZY ENGLISH why can’t I write something similar.
O.K. Madame Chairman, I yield the floor to the opposition.
In junior high school I was called "The Brain" by some of my classmates. This was partly because many of them were blue collar kids from the White Center district with no academic abilities at all, so I seemed relatively smart to them I guess, and partly because Brian was not a common name in the 1950’s and 60’s. Most boys in my neighborhood still had traditional English names like John, Steve, William, Dean, Wayne and Chuck (Charles) and had never heard the name Brian before.
[quote author=brian_costello link=board=wordsuggest;num=1080935259;start=15#20 date=04/09/04 at 00:41:54]
Dear Edman,
In junior high school I was called "The Brain" by some of my classmates. This was partly because many of them were blue collar kids from the White Center district with no academic abilities at all, so I seemed relatively smart to them I guess, and partly because Brian was not a common name in the 1950’s and 60’s. Most boys in my neighborhood still had traditional English names like John, Steve, William, Dean, Wayne and Chuck (Charles) and had never heard the name Brian before.
Sincerely,
Brian Costello
Seattle, Wa.
I really think that this is the silliest post I’ve ever seen.
) . Your definition isn’t any more multi-purpose than ours! It’s just different.
