“It’s a no-brainer!”
「簡単な選択だね。／考えるまでもないよ。」
【例文】
・Should we get pizza or Chinese food? It’s a no-brainer! Pizza is the obvious choice.
⇒ピザと中華料理、どちらを食べようか？簡単な選択だよね。明らかにピザがいいね。
【解説・豆知識】
このフレーズは、「no-brainer」と言う言葉が、「脳を使わなくてもできる」という意味を持っていることに由来します。言い換えれば、「考える必要もなく、明らかに正しい選択」を意味します。通常、この表現は、状況や選択肢が非常に明確であり、簡単に決断できる場合に使われます。特に、仕事、購入、選択肢のある状況など、様々な分野で応用される表現です。
【似た表現はコレだ！】
1. It’s clear-cut!（明確だ！）
・The best option for our company is to expand internationally. It’s clear-cut!
⇒当社にとって最善の選択は国際展開だ。明確だね！
2. It’s obvious!（明らかだ！）
・It’s obvious that we should choose the more affordable option.
⇒もっと手頃な選択肢を選ぶべきだと明らかだよ。
3. It’s a piece of cake!（簡単だ！）
・Deciding on this vacation package was a piece of cake because it had everything we wanted.
⇒欲しいものが全部揃っているこのバケーションパッケージを選ぶのは簡単だった。
4. It’s a cinch!（楽勝だ！）
・Making this decision was a cinch since the other option was clearly inferior.
⇒他の選択肢が明らかに劣っていたので、この決断をするのは楽勝だった。
The Meaning and Origin of “It’s a No-Brainer”
Have you ever heard someone say, “it’s a no-brainer”? This common phrase is used to describe a decision or choice that is very easy to make because it requires little to no thought. But where did this expression come from?
The idiom “no-brainer” first appeared in the early 1900s, but it wasn’t used in the way we know it today. Originally, it was a slang term for a racehorse that could win without much effort from the jockey. The idea was that the horse didn’t need a skilled jockey because it was so talented and could win on its own.
Fast forward to the 1960s, and “no-brainer” had taken on a new meaning. It was now being used to describe a decision that was so obvious, it didn’t require any brainpower to make. The phrase gained popularity and has been a part of our lexicon ever since.
Comprehension Questions
1. What does the phrase “no-brainer” mean?
2. What was the original meaning of “no-brainer”?
3. How did “no-brainer” take on a new meaning in the 1960s?
4. When did “no-brainer” first appear in the English language?
5. What was the origin of “no-brainer” as a slang term?
Answers
1. “No-brainer” is used to describe a decision or choice that requires little to no thought because it is so obvious.
2. Originally, “no-brainer” was a slang term for a racehorse that could win without much effort from the jockey.
3. In the 1960s, “no-brainer” began to be used to describe a decision that was so obvious, it didn’t require any brainpower to make.
4. “No-brainer” first appeared in the English language in the early 1900s.
5. The origin of “no-brainer” as a slang term was in horse-racing, where it referred to a horse that didn’t need a skilled jockey to win.
