brain traffic
- noun
- Informal
- She used breathing techniques to reduce her brain traffic and regain her focus.
Examples
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Too much brain traffic during the meeting left him feeling exhausted.
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After a long day at work, my brain traffic makes it hard to relax.
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I often experience brain traffic when studying for exams.
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After a long day at work, my brain traffic is overwhelming.
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After a long day at work, my brain traffic makes it hard to relax.
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She used breathing techniques to reduce her brain traffic and regain her focus.
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I often experience brain traffic when studying for exams.
Synonyms
A short time when someone cannot think clearly
Not able to pay attention because your mind is on other things
A feeling of mental tiredness that makes it hard to think
Antonyms
How Distracted
Surface Forms
Morphology
This phrase applies the concrete noun 'traffic' metaphorically to 'brain' to describe a busy or cluttered flow of thoughts; a B1 learner who knows both words can likely infer it refers to mental busyness. However, the nuance of excessive or distracting mental activity is an extended, non-literal sense and not fully predictable without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Brain traffic paints the mind as a busy road, with the brain full of traffic, where many thoughts and worries are like cars that jam and block each other. So it means 'too many thoughts' or 'cluttered thoughts' that make it hard to focus.