different between simpleton vs rattlebrain

English

Etymology

simple +? -ton (as in a surname). Abbreviation of simple Tony or Anthony (Grose 1811 Dictionary). Compare French simplet, Italian semplicione.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?mp?lt?n/

Noun

simpleton (plural simpletons)

1. (derogatory) A simple-minded person lacking common sense.
   • 2001 — Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, p 92

     The stranger had crossed a sacred line. He had mentioned the men's mothers. Nothing could get him out of a beating now, even the fact that he was obviously a simpleton. Albeit a simpleton with a good vocabulary.

Translations

Further reading

• simpleton on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

rattle +? brain

Noun

rattlebrain (plural rattlebrains)

1. A rattlebrained person.
   • 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 13, [1]

     a genial young fellow enough to look at, and something of a rattlebrain, to all appearance.

   • 1962, Isaac Bashevis Singer, The Slave, translated by Isaac Bachevis Singer and Cecil Hemley, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1985, Part III, p. 297,

     My mother, peace be with her, when she called me a rattlebrain, was right.