# Is it okay to say "brains", **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796 "2009-10-31T01:27:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/21 "2009-10-31T15:33:12Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > I blew his brains out. > > His brains were leaking out. > > His brains were all over the place! > It’s pretty common to use the plural even when talking about one person’s brain. Egg and brains for breakfast. (Pork) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/22 "2009-10-31T15:39:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > One of the “Gumbys” on one of the Monty Python records complains “My Brain Hurts!” > It sounds pretty goofy, which is, I’m sure, why they had the character say it. > > So, sure, you can say it if you want. If you don’t mind sounding like a Gumby. > > [List of recurring Monty Python's Flying Circus characters - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumbys) Dang, I wish I were going to a costume party tonight! “DOCTOR” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/23 "2009-10-31T15:42:32Z")
From [Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brains) > [@](#): > > Main Entry: 1brain > Pronunciation: \ˈbrān > Function: noun > Etymology: Middle English, from Old English brægen; akin to Middle Low German bregen brain, and perhaps to Greek brechmos front part of the head > Date: before 12th century > 1 a : the portion of the vertebrate central nervous system enclosed in the skull and continuous with the spinal cord through the foramen magnum that is composed of neurons and supporting and nutritive structures (as glia) and that integrates sensory information from inside and outside the body in controlling autonomic function (as heartbeat and respiration), in coordinating and directing correlated motor responses, and in the process of learning — compare forebrain, hindbrain, midbrain b : a nervous center in invertebrates comparable in position and function to the vertebrate brain > **2 a (1) : intellect, mind \ (2) : intellectual endowment : intelligence —often used in plural \ b (1) : a very intelligent or intellectual person (2) : the chief planner within a group —usually used in plural \** > 3 : something that performs the functions of a brain; especially : an automatic device (as a computer) for control or computation Bolding mine. Although definition indicates the plural is most often used for the figurative sense, I would say it would also be OK informally to refer to the brain tissue of a single person. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/24 "2009-10-31T15:44:06Z")
You can say, “My brain hurts” or you can say, “My brains hurt”. You can’t say, “My brains hurts”. Unless, of course, you are speaking lolcatz. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/25 "2009-10-31T15:49:23Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Dang, I wish I were going to a costume party tonight! > [“DOCTOR” ]([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M68GeL8PafE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M68GeL8PafE)) There it is. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/26 "2009-10-31T16:00:38Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > I blew his brains out. > > His brains were leaking out. > > His brains were all over the place! > > It’s pretty common to use the plural even when talking about one person’s brain. Common, maybe, but grammatically incorrect. My sources, online dictionaries, say that the word “brains,” in the plural, generally means “intelligence” as in “he’s the brains of that outfit” or “lots of brains in that family.” As to your examples, you wouldn’t say “I shot his livers out” or “his pancreases were all over the place,” would you? You could correctly say “I blew his kidneys out.” One liver, one brain, two kidneys. But in your examples, one would conceivably be excused from using the more correct, “his brainage matter oozed onto the sidewalk,” for example. Perhaps I should be using more smilies. Your use of “brains” like that is an idiom and is just fine. No one who hears you say that will be thinking you actually blew out more than one of his brains. I’m sure they will be preoccupied with other concerns at the time. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/27 "2009-10-31T16:27:59Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > Sure, it’s okay. You won’t get in trouble or anything. You obviously haven’t offended any of the Grammer Nazies on this board. Just watch. 😉 ---
**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:** [October 31, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/28 "2009-10-31T19:08:57Z")
I dunno. I think it’s pretty weirds. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/29 "2009-10-31T19:10:02Z")
There are no pain receptors in the brain. So you can’t say anything of the sort. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/30 "2009-10-31T19:19:58Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > There are no pain receptors in the brain. So you can’t say anything of the sort. Reality is for those who can’t handle dope! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/31 "2009-10-31T19:41:06Z")
I don’t know why the word should take a plural form in English when it’s singular in other languages-- although it’s interesting that in Finnish the word for brain is \*aivot \*which has the plural -\*t \*ending and is declined according to the plural noun declension, just like in English… except that there is no singular form of this word, anomalously. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796/32 "2009-10-31T19:57:09Z")
I don’t know why it isn’t plural. The brain _looks_ plural. [See!](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.organizer-extraordinaire.com/images/3-part-brain.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.organizer-extraordinaire.com/assessments.html&usg=__A14yHwNOoU9cQGB9PWDV8qB_sdk=&h=292&w=331&sz=87&hl=en&start=7&tbnid=zSWVWaoqWhepQM:&tbnh=105&tbnw=119&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhuman%2Bbrains%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-okay-to-say-brains/515796.md?page=1)