what are the origins of the term brainstorming? when was it coined? by whom?
how long has it been in general use?

Hi inon,

A good authoritative source for word origins is the Oxford English
Dictionary; however this is a subscription site and I can't quote it
here.

I did find a useful discussion of the origins of this word on the web,
on the Word Wizard site. They quote the following etymology, without
attribution:

"[1890-95; ?brain + ?storm?; originally a severe mental disturbance (a
violent transient fit of insanity)]"

"The Word Wizard Clubhouse"
http://www.wordwizard.com/clubhouse/founddiscuss1.asp?Num=3733

That page then quotes from the book "America in so many words":

"Originally a brainstorm was a momentary malfunction of the mind, a
?cerebral disturbance,? in the words of an 1894 investigator. A bright
idea was not yet ?a brainstorm? but a ?brain wave,? as far back as
?Harper?s? magazine of 1890: ?Lucilla, with what she was fond of
terming a brain wave, comprehended the situation.? But by the 1920s
?brain wave? was subsiding, while ?brainstorm? took over the meaning
of ?a sudden surge of ingenuity.?"

"The first instance of this transferred sense, ?He had a brainstorm,?
is recorded in the magazine ?College Humor? in early 1925. Many
brainstorms took place after that, such as this one from 1941: ?Then I
had the brainstorm of getting an English star like Howard to play the
part,? and another from 1993: ? Then one of the guys working here had
a brainstorm.?"

But that's not quite the modern meaning of the word - a free-flowing
collaborative problem-solving session. Again, from the same page:

"Alex Osborn of the noted advertising agency Batten, Barton, Durstine
and Osborn had a brainstorm of his own in 1938: the brainstorm
session, or group brainstorming. In the 1950s Osborn?s style of
brainstorming took the business world by storm. An article in
?Business Week? in 1955 explains that it involved ?free-wheeling
sessions that encourage wild ideas but prohibit any evaluation or
discussion until the session is over.?"

So there you have it - the word was used from the 1890's: first to
mean a mental disturbance, then by the 1920s to mean a brainwave, then
from 1938 in Osborn's sense of group brainstorming.


Google Search Strategy:

brainstorm "origin of the term OR word"
://www.google.com/search?q=brainstorm+%22origin+of+the+term+OR+word%22

"brainstorm originally meant"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22brainstorm+originally+meant%22

brainstorm originally "brain storm"
://www.google.com/search?q=brainstorm+originally+%22brain+storm%22


Regards,
eiffel-ga

Someone told me that it is no longer politically correct to use the
expression in the UK but I can't remember why.

Thanks, inon, for the kind tip.

eiffel-ga

Probono - perhaps we have to be concerned about offending the
brainless - which would include all those who are worried about what
is politically correct.