Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Slang Primer No. 4

Herewith the fourth in an ongoing series on slang. This entry is drawn from Robert L. Chapman's marvelous Dictionary of American Slang (Third Edition).


NO-BRAINER
(1) noun: By middle 1980s: Something very simple, requiring no intelligence. "The Question of which CAD program to buy is a no-brainer; Autodesk's AutoCAD dominates the market" -- PC World; "Passing it seemed like a no-brainer, but it failed" -- Macon Telegraph

(2) modifier: "Alden Essex is currently the undisputed king of no-brainer novels" -- Mary Worth comic strip; "Lansing, with the help of no-brainer sequels such as Wayne's World 2 and Addams Family Values, has the studio back on track" -- Vanity Fair

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