# Alternative word for "brainstorm"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092 "2018-05-29T22:06:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/1 "2018-05-29T22:06:00Z")
I don’t care for the word “brainstorm.” As a former epilepsy patient, the word has negative connotations for me. Looking at a thesaurus hasn’t given us any words we do like. So, does anyone have any suggestions for a better word that has the same idea of people collaborating and suggesting ideas that all can discuss? Invented words are fine with me. I love that kind of wordplay. ---
**Author:** ![MareIt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@MareIt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MareIt)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/2 "2018-05-29T22:43:25Z")
Is the word brain out? or just the word brainstorm? mind share Idea storm/dump/mixing bowl/ Some variation of ‘tossing it/the idea in the hat’ could work ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/3 "2018-05-30T00:28:14Z")
Eureka moment? ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/4 "2018-05-30T01:47:23Z")
Imaginating. Thoughtspewing. SERTing. (from Say Every Random Thing) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/5 "2018-05-30T02:03:51Z")
Strategy session ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/6 "2018-05-30T02:04:28Z")
**Cerebral Soufflé** A puree of various thoughts which when baked, puff up to a viable idea! OP, you may use this term for free (with attribution). Everybody else needs to pay me $10 a pop. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/7 "2018-05-30T02:34:18Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > **Cerebral Soufflé** > > A puree of various thoughts which when baked, puff up to a viable idea! > OP, you may use this term for free (with attribution). Everybody else needs to pay me $10 a pop. What’s usually called brainstorming is **not** a collection of good ideas. It’s throwing in ALL the ideas including the terrible and stupid ones, and resolving not to judge censor or edit them until after the session is finished. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/8 "2018-05-30T03:49:09Z")
Well, I teach the creative process, and there are two different uses of “brainstorm”. One is what most of us are talking about here, the collaborative “bouncing ideas off each other” process, often used by creative types as an early step of idea generation. But the way many people use it is as a “Eureka!” Moment: “I was stuck trying to figure out a solution, but then, I was out golfing in the rain and had a ‘bolt out of the blue’”… Hmm, I just realized that it isn’t just a turn of phrase; the “storm” imagery fits. So if anyone objects to the term, they may have to lighten up… it sounds like the phrase is here to stay. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/9 "2018-05-30T06:56:34Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Hmm, I just realized that it isn’t just a turn of phrase; the “storm” imagery fits. So if anyone objects to the term, they may have to lighten up… it sounds like the phrase is here to stay. That’s a mistake - or at least an omission. The word “brainstorm” was initially used to mean “epileptic seizure”; the newer meaning is borrowed from it. Not that that’s particularly evil, but still it’s easy to understand the reluctance to use it. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/10 "2018-05-30T07:07:07Z")
Spitballing? Idea inundation? Thought torrent? ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/11 "2018-05-30T08:04:03Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > I don’t care for the word “brainstorm.” As a former epilepsy patient, the word has negative connotations for me. I have no answer for the OP, but a friend of mine did a documentary about her struggles (and others) with epilepsy called [Brainstorm](https://www.brainstormdocumentary.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/12 "2018-05-30T11:31:19Z")
How about calling it a ‘discussion’? Failing that - a ‘Thought Orgy’? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/13 "2018-05-30T11:31:52Z")
Brain wave. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/14 "2018-05-30T12:13:18Z")
As I stated in the OP, I’m thinking about when a group just states ideas, all are written down, and they are discussed later. It has become a common word in education. Because of that meaning, I have never used brainstorm for a Eureka! moment. Eureka! works fine for that. Besides, I like the reminder of one of the best TV shows ever. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/15 "2018-05-30T13:30:27Z")
> [@MareIt](#): > > Is the word brain out? or just the word brainstorm? > > mind share I was going to suggest “mind meeting” myself. Googling, it appears that at least one other person [uses that phrase](http://celiagates.com/21-minute-mind-meeting/). I like the sound of “mind share” better, though. But they both kind of sound like corporate-speak. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/16 "2018-05-30T14:04:32Z")
I used to call a sudden epiphany a Jessica Fletcher Moment. On _Murder, She Wrote_, someone would say something, and Jessica would get this OMG look on her face that meant, I-understand-everything-now! It was as inevitable as “you-meddling-kids”. Perhaps ‘epiphany’ is what you’re looking for though. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/17 "2018-05-30T16:13:05Z")
I’ve heard the word **Bluesky** used. Seems it has different US and UK meanings. I’m offering the UK one. > **[Blue-sky definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/blue-sky)** > > Blue-sky definition: of or denoting theoretical research without regard to any future application of its... | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples j ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/18 "2018-05-31T23:51:01Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > As I stated in the OP, I’m thinking about when a group just states ideas, all are written down, and they are discussed later. It has become a common word in education. > > Because of that meaning, I have never used brainstorm for a Eureka! moment. Eureka! works fine for that. Besides, I like the reminder of one of the best TV shows ever. SWOT session used to be a term in vogue. I originally thought it meant See What’s Out There. Then I was asked to participate in one and it was much more structured. We spent several minutes each discussing our team’s [ul] [li]Strengths[/li][li]Weaknesses[/li][li]Opportunities[/li][li]Threats[/li][/ul] But I suspect the term may be outdated now. And the _Eureka moment_ is an epiphany, right Mr. House? –G! Smee: Ay! I just had an apostrophe! Hook: You mean ephiphany. Smee: Yeah, well, one o’ those things. …–Hook ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/19 "2018-05-31T23:58:50Z")
“Ideate” seems to be coming into fashion but I hate that even more than “brainstorm.” ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092/20 "2018-06-01T00:17:27Z")
Thinktanking. [Thought shower](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thought_shower). [Buzz group](http://www.academia.edu/11623723/buzz_group_and_brainstorming_as_a_teaching_strategies)or Buzz session. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-word-for-brainstorm/815092.md?page=2)