Using the expression “no-brainer” to mean “obvious solution” or “absolutely” or even “stupid” has been around for a while. If Phrases.org is to be believed, the term first appeared in The Berrys, an American 1950s-era cartoon, even though to me it sounds very 1980s boardroom — “Socks for cats — c’mon guys, it’s a no-brainer. A real win-win.” In the way of brain expressions, people seem to have pretty fertile minds — we’ve also got picking someone’s brains, rack one’s brains, brain drain, bird brain, sh** for brains, and on and on… But for some reason whenever someone says no-brainer around me, they say how much they hate that expression. Why no love for no-brainer, I wonder?
