It’s not rocket science

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Grammarist

It’s not rocket science is an American idiom. We will examine the meaning of the idiom it’s not rocket science, where it may have come from, and some examples of its use in sentences.

It’s not rocket science is an idiom that means the task or subject under discussion is not difficult, that a task should be easy to perform or a subject should be easy to understand. The phrase it’s not rocket science came into use in the United States during the 1980s, though rocket science had been a field of study since World War II. German rocket scientists were brought to the United States in the 1940s, and they helped launch the American rocket science program that eventually sent men to the moon. By the 1950s, rocket science was regarded as a complicated field of study. However, the phrase it’s not rocket science did not come into use until the 1980s when it was used to describe the degree of difficulty involved in coaching football.

Examples

“It’s not rocket science” may be a tired cliché, but that doesn’t mean designing rockets is any less complicated. (Science Daily)

“It’s not rocket science to understand that women generally have less health issues – they’re still going to have some – but they generally have less issues than males as they get older.” (The Buffalo News)

“It’s not rocket science, please stay local, stick to low level walks for now, and exercise well within your ability.” (The Harrogate Advertiser)

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