simple
Related to simple: simple sentence
in simple English
In clear, straightforward, and uncomplicated English terminology. Chronic atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries has stopped oxygen-rich blood from reaching the heart, leading to a myocardial infarction. In simple English, you've suffered a heart attack. I wish these software agreements would be written in simple English, rather than this legalese gobbledygook.
See also: English, simple
plain and simple
Essentially or fundamentally so, without exaggeration or elaboration. If you are caught cheating on an exam or assignment, you will fail the entire class, plain and simple. No matter how much they claim it will help the average worker, this is a tax break for the wealthy, plain and simple.
See also: and, plain, simple
pure and simple
Essentially or fundamentally so, without exaggeration or elaboration. If you are caught cheating on an exam or assignment, you will fail the entire class, pure and simple. No matter how much they claim it will help the average worker, this is a tax break for the wealthy, pure and simple.
See also: and, pure, simple
simple English
Clear, straightforward, and uncomplicated English terminology. Chronic atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries has stopped oxygen-rich blood from reaching the heart, leading to a myocardial infarction. In simple English, you've suffered a heart attack. I wish these software agreements would be written in simple English, rather than this legalese gobbledygook.
See also: English, simple
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
have a bad case of the simples
Rur. to be stupid. That boy has a bad case of the simples. He can't understand anything. She acts smart enough on the playground, but get her in the classroom and she has a bad case of the simples.
See also: bad, case, have, of, simple
pure and simple
and plain and simpleabsolutely; without further complication or elaboration. I told you what you must do, and you must do it, pure and simple. Will you kindly explain to me what it is, pure and simple, that I am expected to do? Just tell me plain and simple, do you intend to go or don't you?
See also: and, pure, simple
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
pure and simple
No more and no less, plainly so, as in This so-called educational video is really a game, pure and simple. This expression is very nearly redundant, since pure and simple here mean "plain" and "unadorned." Oscar Wilde played on it in The Importance of Being Earnest (1895): "The truth is rarely pure and never simple." [Second half of 1800s]
See also: and, pure, simple
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
pure and simple
and nothing else. 1991 Alabama Game & Fish They are bred for waterfowling, pure and simple.
See also: and, pure, simple
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
ˌpure and ˈsimple
and nothing else: This man is a bully, pure and simple. ▶ ˌpurely and ˈsimply adv.: I am basing my opinion purely and simply on the facts of the case.See also: and, pure, simple
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
pure and simple
mod. basically; essentially. Bart is a crook, pure and simple.
See also: and, pure, simple
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
pure and simple
Plainly so, without amplification or dilution. This pairing is almost but not quite redundant; it dates from the nineteenth century. Oscar Wilde played on it in The Importance of Being Earnest (1895): “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
See also: and, pure, simple
simple Simon
A foolish, gullible person; a simpleton. This expression comes from the well-known nursery rhyme “Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair,” in turn a rhymed version of a tale from an eighteenth-century chapbook. By 1785 Grose’s dictionary defined the term as “a natural, a silly fellow.” James Joyce used it in Ulysses (1922): “I looked so simple in the cradle they christened me simple Simon.” However, it is probably obsolescent.
See also: Simon, simple
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- in simple English
- simple English
- be in plain English
- be in plain language
- in plain English
- in plain language
- say (something) in plain English
- say (something) in plain language
- put (something) into plain English
- put (something) into plain language