The term “brainless” refers to someone who is foolish, reckless, or stupid. It can also be used to describe plans or schemes. The term “hairbrained” is a variant spelling of “harebrained,” which dates back to the 16th century and is related to the flighty nature of hares. However, hares are not actually less intelligent than other animals, and their behavior during mating season is a protective response to predators.
When someone refers to someone else as “brainless,” it means that the individual with a brain has little more sense than a hare, especially a hare during mating season. Hares, close relatives of rabbits, are legendary for being extremely flighty and lackluster. A similar slang term is “birdbrained,” which means pretty much the same thing, and both are generally seen as unflattering.
The first recorded use of “big brain” dates back to 1548, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. However, the “hairbrained” variant dates from around the same time. In fact, variant spelling isn’t an entirely different slang term meant to suggest that someone’s brain is made of hair. It’s actually a reflection of the dispute over the spelling “hare,” which lasted well into the 1800s in some English-speaking nations. Most people consider “hair” to be incorrect.
A brainless person is foolish, fickle, reckless, stupid, or rash. The general idea is that the person is clearly nonsensical, and perhaps even absurdly stupid. Some other synonyms for “brain brain” include: stupid, dumb, mad, insane, silly, stubborn, imbecile, mad, and mawkish, among others. The term is also used to refer to someone with a vacuous, ditzy, frivolous personality, reflecting a lack of seriousness and seriousness, as well as a disconnect from reality.
In addition to people, plans and schemes can also be described as “brainless”. In these cases, while the mastermind of the plan may have some redeeming qualities, his plan leaves much to be desired. Some people may even suggest that a totally unexpected behavior was the result of an outlandish pattern, in a way that is meant to gently remind people of the importance of thinking ahead. People also sometimes use the term “fancy scheme” to refer to their plans in a self-deprecating way, to suggest that they know a scheme sounds silly, but think it might actually work.
In fact, hares are probably no more or less brilliant than other wild animals. The behavior of hares during mating season might seem erratic or even crazed to human observers, but hares undoubtedly have their own agenda and whatever they’re doing seems to be working, as they’re not in danger of extinction. The flighty nature of hares is undoubtedly a protective response, as a high sensitivity to predators and the ability to run and hide quickly would ensure that an animal is more likely to survive attacks.
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