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[0342] No-brainer

🎲 Clusterfuck
English Idioms
All Idioms

Explanation

  • A decision or choice that is extremely easy or obvious to make, requiring little or no mental effort or thought.

Origin

  • American English slang that emerged around the mid-20th century.
  • The idea is that the decision is so straightforward and logical that one doesn't even need to use their 'brain' to figure it out.

Synonyms & Related Expressions

  • Obvious choice
  • Easy decision / Easy call
  • Clear cut
  • Slam dunk (US informal, esp. sports/business, implies easy success)
  • As easy as ABC / As easy as pie
  • Piece of cake (refers more to tasks, but sometimes choices)
  • Foregone conclusion

Alternatives

Slang/Informal:

  • Duh! / Obviously!
  • Easy peasy
  • Slam dunk (US)
  • Sure thing / Sure bet
  • Lock / It's a lock (implies certainty)

Milder/Formal:

  • The obvious choice / The clear choice
  • A straightforward decision
  • The logical option
  • An easy decision to make

Situational Appropriateness

  • Informal to semi-formal. Very common in business and everyday decision-making.
  • Can sometimes sound slightly dismissive if someone else was genuinely struggling with the decision, so gauge the context.

Misunderstanding Warnings

  • Unlikely to be misunderstood. The meaning is quite clear from context, even if the etymology isn't known.

Examples

  • Choosing the highest-paying job offer was a no-brainer.
  • Should we take the shortcut? It saves 20 minutes, so yeah, it's a no-brainer.
  • Renewing the contract with our best supplier is a no-brainer.
  • Getting vaccinated to protect yourself and others should be a no-brainer.

Dialogue

Marketing Lead: So, we can run Ad Campaign A which costs $1000 and reaches 1000 people, or Campaign B which costs $500 and reaches 5000 people with the same conversion rate.

CEO: Campaign B, obviously. It's a no-brainer. Better reach for less money.

Marketing Lead: Got it.

Social Media Examples

  • Post: Switching to reusable shopping bags? Saves plastic, often gets you a small discount. Total no-brainer! ♻️ #eco #sustainableliving #gogreen
  • Tweet: They offered me the promotion with a raise AND more vacation days? Accepting was a complete no-brainer! 🎉🥳 #careergoals #promotion #excited

Response Patterns

  • Absolutely! / Totally!
  • Definitely. / For sure.
  • Obvious choice.
  • Couldn't agree more.
  • Yeah, clearly.
  • Why would you even ask? (Slightly informal/playful)

Common Follow-up Questions/Actions

After hearing no-brainer:

  • Agree and move on: Okay, great, let's do it then.
  • Briefly confirm understanding (if needed): So, we're all agreed on X?
  • Act on the decision.

Conversation Starter

  • No. It's an assessment of a decision's simplicity.

Intonation

  • Usually said with confidence, certainty, and sometimes slight impatience that it even needs discussion.
  • Strong stress often falls on no. NO-brainer.

Generation Differences

  • Widely understood and used across all generations.

Regional Variations

  • Very common in North American English, widely used and understood elsewhere (UK, Aus, NZ etc.).
Red flag
🎲 Clusterfuck