| 释义 |
no-brainer, n. and a. colloq. (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
Brit. |ˌnəʊˈbreɪnə|, U.S. |ˈnoʊˈbreɪnər|
[‹ no adj. + brain n. + -er suffix1.]
A. n.
1. Something that requires or involves little mental effort or intelligence to perform or understand; esp. an easily made decision.
1959Independent (Long Beach, Calif.) 31 Dec. b7 (cartoon caption) Peter! Not another no brainer! 1968Winnipeg Free Press 4 Jan. 26/3 He'd break in on a goalie and the netminder would make one of those saves that our manager-coach, Sid Abel, calls ‘a no-brainer’. 1977Tennis World Sept. 17/2 To say of a player, ‘He doesn't know what he's doing out there’..refers to the ecstatic state of his game. A shot produced in this condition is called a ‘no-brainer’—the summit of stroke-making. 1982Money (Nexis) Apr. 52 Macklin recommends that clients take advantage of high interest rates by investing about 60% of their discretionary dollars in ‘no-brainers’—money-market funds and tax-free money funds. 1990Sci. Amer. Sept. 123/1 The tax, Hahn says, ‘is a no-brainer’. What is also a no-brainer is that many politicians believe it is politically impossible to impose a tax high enough to drive down carbon emissions. 1995Denver Post 24 Mar. d10/3 The course is a no-brainer. 1999Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 21 Mar. 77/1 The worlds of television and film collide with little impact in this no-brainer about scientific experiments on schoolkids.
2. A foolish or unintelligent person or action.
1979T. Alibrandi Killshot vii. 69 I'll unanimously be voted the no-brainer-of-the-month award. 1982Washington Post (Nexis) 24 May d1 We had a lot of no-brainers—stupid passes we shouldn't have thrown. 1987Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. 25 Oct. c1/1 If a no-brainer wants to talk on the radio—even if the message makes no sense whatsoever—he or she can do it. 1995Guardian 20 Apr. ii. 5/1 Hey, guys, I'm only kidding. I know you are not really all no-brainers, no-hopers.
B. adj. (attrib.). Requiring or involving little mental effort or intelligence; simple, mindless, undemanding.
1976N.Y. Times 11 Jan. iii. 1/4 Institutional customers began their fee-cutting efforts by placing ‘no brainer’ orders, small and easy to fill, with whatever reliable firm was offering the lowest fee. 1988N.Y. Post 22 June 23/4 You know how easy it is to make dumb no-brainer action movies. 1992M. Anderson Imposters in Temple v. 184 As in all matters of corruption, there are those who gain—the athletes who, but for the grace of no-brainer courses, could never receive a degree. 1997Christian Sci. Monitor (Electronic ed.) 31 July The ‘no-brainer’ approach is geared for weary supper shoppers who want to do quick cooking at home. 2000Minx Aug. 13/1 He plumped for the kind of no-brainer question usually guaranteed to deliver the thinnest slither of insight into the celebrity personality. |