brain fart
3
9.3
- noun
- /breɪn fɑrt/
- Slang
:
lapsus mental
- She apologized for her brain fart, realizing she had forgotten the important details.
Examples
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Wow, big brain fart!
Blog text (22) -
In a massive brain fart, I ordered a mushroom and spinach pizza, forgetting all about the cheese on it!
Blog text (21) -
Okay, let me put a stop to that little brain fart right now.
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Did you just have a brain fart?
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Cricket, next time you have a brain fart, seriously think to yourself, "Do I really want to say that?"
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You're having a brain fart!
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While the name of the person you're going out with should probably be at the top of your list, brain farts happen, and important details like this can escape.
Blog text (22) -
Unfortunately, there was one extra special cosplayer that I wish I had gotten a picture of, but I simply had a brain fart and didn't react fast enough.
Blog text (30) -
During the meeting, I had a brain fart and forgot the main topic we were discussing.
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I often experience a brain fart when I'm under pressure, causing me to forget simple things.
Synonyms
95
7.2
A temporary inability to think or remember under pressure
A memory that is unclear and hard to remember
Antonyms
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
brain + fart
The constituents point in the right direction—'brain' signals something mental and 'fart' evokes a brief, embarrassing emission—so the idea of a brief, silly mental lapse can be metaphorically inferred. However, this is a slangy, culture-bound metaphorical extension rather than a straightforward compositional meaning, so a B1 learner who only knows the literal words may not reliably derive the exact sense without exposure.
Etymology
Brain fart is a slang image that makes a funny picture: your brain has a small fart that makes thinking stop for a moment. One popular image is that this sudden little 'burst' in the head causes you to forget or say something silly, so it means 'a short, embarrassing lapse in memory or concentration'.