rocket surgery n. a task requiring intelligence or higher education; a difficult undertaking. Editorial Note: Often used jocularly in negative constructions similar to “It’s not rocket surgery.” Etymological Note: A blend of rocket science and brain surgery. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about...
The emotional appeal of handwriting and the emotional reveal of animal phrases. Should children be taught cursive writing in school, or is their time better spent studying other things? A handwritten note and a typed one may use the very same words...
I use this all the time and it brings me no small amount of joy.
Some time between 1994 and 2005, Steve Krug used the phrase in his great book “Don’t Make Me Think”, which is where I picked it up.
This was used by Mike Myers in the hockey movie Mystery, Alaska.
I started says this 3 years ago when talking about Customer Service people and how they can screw even the most simple task.. Not knowing it was use before…. Who knew?
I started saying this some years back, and, thinking I might somehow make my billions writing comedy, I did a web search for it to see if anyone had used it. If I recall, nothing came up. I’m sure I wasn’t quite the maverick in coming up with the term and it just hadn’t spread to the web in those days, but I still half-joking swear to my web design students, when I make them read Steve Krug’s book, that I at least comorbidly came up with the phrase “it’s not rocket surgery” around 1999-2002. 🙂
YUCK, reminds me of guesstimate, another one I detest. It’s rocket science or brain surgery. Or estimate! Just makes you look dumb or pretentious, neither of which are flattering.
It’s also an AMAZING song by the Matrin Brothers.
Find it on YouTube