No-brainer

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Grammarist

No-brainer describes something that requires little brain power, something that doesn’t take much mental effort to accomplish, understand or decide. Calling something a no-brainer implies that the idea being discussed has only one correct answer or that the decision being debated has only one correct outcome. No-brainer is a noun coined during the 1950s, it was first seen in a comic called The Berrys, printed in the Long Beach Independent, a California newspaper. In 1968 it was seen in The Lethbridge Herald, a Canadian newspaper, to describe a decision that was easy to make. No-brainer is properly rendered as one, hyphenated word.

Examples

A no-brainer impact of a colour without having to think too much about any other design element, perhaps? (The Guardian)

The Ocean View Hills decision was a no-brainer, according to Felipe Nuno, who serves on the Ocean View Hills Recreation Council. (The San Diego Reader)

Fisk said when the idea was discussed, Marcil told him the Life Skills Center was “a no-brainer” and “exactly what we need for the state of North Dakota.” (The Bismarck Tribune)

“If you can finance $10,000 worth of inventory and turn it around in one month to make a 30 percent margin, it’s a no-brainer” to pawn an heirloom or idle equipment to raise cash, Adato said. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The addition of an extra day to the Tour de Yorkshire in the future is a “no-brainer” but the decision lies with British Cycling, Sir Gary Verity said. (The Yorkshire Post)

It goes to show that this Congress has no problem wasting time holding hearings to decide if fantasy betting should be legalized — an absolute no-brainer if ever there was one — while simultaneously avoiding the critical financial matters that are threatening the very foundation and future well-being of this country. (The Boston Herald)