Is there some idiom for telling someone specialised knowledge is not required to understand the situation?

Question

I’m searching for an idiom that would mean the following: The situation is obvious to an untrained eye.

For example, say someone looked unwell, perhaps with a cold and one person says to another about a third party,

"You don’t require a doctor to understand that he has a cold, because it’s ____________ [obvious to an untrained eye as to what is going on]".

Thank you!

Hey, that's no rocket science. It's not brain surgery, you know. — Kris, Oct 10 '18 at 06:35
Related: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/278272/how-to-say-its-not-rocket-science-before-rockets-existed/278309#278309 — user 66974, Oct 10 '18 at 08:07
Possible duplicate of Idiom meaning to talk about something everyone already knows. — Rob, Oct 10 '18 at 14:08
I think the answers have what you are looking for, but none of them will fit into the sentence you provided. — Jordan.J.D, Oct 10 '18 at 15:28
A word or phrase request can easily attract a long list of answers when it’s too subjective – more of a poll or request for ideas. Unfortunately neither are a good fit for the Stack Exchange model. A Stack Exchange question is objective and specific enough that it has a clearly “right” answer. See: “Real questions have answers, not items or ideas or opinions”, “Single word requests, crosswords, and the fight against mediocrity”. — MetaEd, Oct 10 '18 at 18:30
If possible, add more details of research you’ve done, especially solutions you’ve already rejected, and why. Include the desired connotation, register (formality), part of speech, and context in which it is to be used, and provide the exact enclosing sentence or passage. If this is not possible because you really do have a subjective question, a welcoming place to ask for advice is our English Language & Usage Chat. — MetaEd, Oct 10 '18 at 18:30
"Layman"... a person without specialized training. "A layman could understand ..." — Ask About Monica, Oct 10 '18 at 18:33

score 17 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 10 '18 at 16:00

17

It's not rocket science
or
It's not brain surgery

These are often used when someone is trying to make something more difficult than it really is.

From the OED:

brain surgery n. surgery performed on the brain, neurosurgery; (hence humorously) something requiring a high level of intelligence or expertise (frequently in negative constructions, implying that something is not difficult); cf. rocket science n. at rocket n.5

rocket science n. (a) the science of rockets and rocket propulsion; (b) colloq. something requiring a high level of intelligence or expertise; frequently in negative constructions, implying that something is relatively simple.

edited Oct 10 '18 at 16:00

scohe001

3,028

answered Oct 10 '18 at 12:37

Kevin

7,900

14

Or sometimes... it's not rocket surgery. – Tushar Raj Oct 10 '18 at 12:38
Dammit, Smithers, this isn't rocket science, it's brain surgery! – Robert Columbia Oct 10 '18 at 16:27
Also "you don't have to be a rocket scientist / brain surgeon." – Tashus Oct 10 '18 at 16:33
1

I know it is used as an idiom like this, but "rocket science" annoys me. "Rocket science is not hard, you can explain most of it to a bright 8-year-old. Rocket engineering on the other hand..." – Martin Bonner supports Monica Oct 10 '18 at 16:44
1

Back in a school's rocket club I was in, a common phrase was, "it's only rocket surgery!" – Phoenix Oct 10 '18 at 16:59
1

@RobertColumbia Relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THNPmhBl-8I – Kevin Oct 10 '18 at 17:49
1

@Kevin: That was gold! – Tushar Raj Nov 28 '18 at 13:36

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 10 '18 at 08:07

One such idiom is: no-brainer.

"You don’t require a doctor to understand that he has a cold, because it’s a no-brainer".

TFD(idioms):

no-brainer
n. an easy question that takes no thinking to answer; a simple problem that requires no intellect to solve; a dilemma that requires no pondering to resolve.

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 10 '18 at 12:44

5

I propose common sense. It has a generally positive connotation.

common sense

n. Sound judgment not based on specialized knowledge.

^{^{American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/common+sense}}

answered Oct 10 '18 at 12:44

Justin

748

I think the most common form for the specific example used by the OP would be "it's just common sense." – Kamil Drakari Oct 10 '18 at 14:28

Ben · Answer 4 · 2018-10-10T15:24:27.347

Any Fool

In England this is an idiomatic expression for "a person with the minimum level of skill and knowledge that everyone should have".

Any fool can see..

You don’t require a doctor to understand that he has a cold, any fool can see that
Any fool can see he has a cold, you don't need to be a brain surgeon.

Any fool knows...

Any fool knows you have to turn it on first

Any fool can...

Any fool can hit his thumb with a hammer, but it takes someone special to hit his head.

score 1 · Answer 5 · edited Oct 10 '18 at 14:19

1

It's easy as ABC.

Source : idioms.thefreedictionary.com (note the word intuitive.)

edited Oct 10 '18 at 14:19

IconDaemon

2,701

answered Oct 10 '18 at 06:10

Remi

544

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 10 '18 at 16:11

It's plain as day. The expression plain as day means that it is obvious, simple to recognize or understand, straightforward. That is to say, if you can recognize daytime or see the sun in the sky, then you will recognize something that is plain as day.

It's as plain as day that he has a cold.

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 10 '18 at 16:07

0

"A monkey could (do/see) it." This is probably a little more common with "do" instead of "see", but it works either way.

answered Oct 10 '18 at 16:07

user3067860

1,456

Is there some idiom for telling someone specialised knowledge is not required to understand the situation?

7 Answers7