We all know what a brain is. A doctor will tell you that the brain is the organ(器官) of the body in the head. It controls our body’s functions, movements, sensations, emotions and thoughts. But a brain can mean so much more.
A brain can also simply be a smart person. If a person is called brainy, she is smart and intelligent. If a family has many children but one of them is super smart, you could say, “She’s the brains in the family.” And if you are the brains behind something, you are responsible for developing or organizing something. For example, Bill Gates is the brains behind Microsoft.
A brain trust is a group of experts who give advice. Word experts say the phrase “brain trust” became popular when Franklin D. Roosevelt first ran for president in 1932. Several professors gave him advice on social and political issues facing the U.S. These professors were called his “brain trust.”
These ways we use the word “brain” all make sense. But other ways we use the word are not so easy to understand. For example, to tease is to make fun of someone. But a brainteaser is not one who makes fun of someone else’s brain. A brainteaser is a riddle or puzzle that makes you think. Here is a fun brainteaser: What can go all around the world but still stays in one corner? The answer—a stamp! You can share that brainteaser with your friends.
Another example is: a brainchild. A brainchild sounds like a really smart kid. But it isn’t. A brainchild is an idea that one has without any help from others. If you have a really great idea, it is your brainchild—no one else’s. However, if many people are responsible for a great idea, you could say they brainstormed it. Here, brainstorm is not an act of weather. It is a process of thinking creatively about a complex topic.
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