the.com/nous
The Greek word for mind, now British slang for having enough sense not to need it defined.
means Practical intelligence and common sense — the ability to size up a situation and act sensibly.
from Straight from Ancient Greek 'nous,' meaning mind or intellect, a term philosophers like Aristotle used for the highest faculty of understanding. English borrowed it into philosophy first, but by the 20th century British colloquial speech had dragged it down from the lofty seminar room into the pub, where it now just means having your wits about you — gumption rather than genius.
- original sense
- Ancient Greek for intellect, the mind that grasps truth directly
- plato and aristotle
- Used it for the highest form of reasoning, above mere logic
- british slang shift
- Became common-sense street smarts, pronounced to rhyme with mouse
- neoplatonist upgrade
- Plotinus made nous a cosmic mind that emanates reality itself