Episode 267: Rack My Brain

This week Shauna and Dan rack their brains to think of good phrases to explore. Okay, that was a bad joke. But rack my brain is a fun episode. Trust us. Bonus: Beatles, Rebuses, and rack vs wrack

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Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
Episode 267: Rack My Brain
Record Date: February 17, 2025
Air Date: February 19, 2025

Intro

Shauna:
Welcome to Bunny Trails, a whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase.

I’m Shauna Harrison

Dan:
And I’m Dan Pugh

Each week we take an idiom or other turn of phrase and try to tell the story from its entry into the English language, to how it’s used today.

Opening Hook
Have you ever been in a situation where you are trying to remember something but you just can’t think of it? Or maybe you need to come up with something creative but you just can’t get your mind to hone in on what you want. In both cases, you might be said to be racking your brains.

Meaning

First a quick word of thanks to our Dean of Learning, our top patron Mary Halsig Lopez who first suggested this phrase in the community tab on our Patreon, which is available to everyone from the free tiers to our top spot. You can join Mary and many others on our Patreon, patreon.com/bunnytrailspod.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, rack my brain means:

Quote
to make a great effort to think of or remember something
End Quote
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/rack_v1?tab=meaning_and_use#27250506

The word doing most of the work here is “rack”, spelled r-a-c-k. There is an alternate spelling, but it has historically meant something different and we’ll talk about that right before the break. The word rack has been around since the early 1300s. A rack was a frame where cloth or parchment was stretched before drying. This is the origin of “rack” as in clothes rack. It is also the use of the word that has been applied to the torture device that stretches the victim. But we are not going to talk about that. In the early 1400s, we see the word start to get verbified, to refer to the action of stretching.

And don’t come at me about the word verbified. It’s been in use to describe the act of taking a noun and making it a verb since at least the early 1800s.
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/verbify_v?tab=meaning_and_use#15722092

But rack, as a verb, is what we are looking at with our phrase. We will start with a work written in the 1500s.

1583
This one is from Select poetry, chiefly devotional of the reign of Queen Elizabeth v.1, edited by Edward Farr. The book was published in 1845, but this book is full of collected works that were written during the reign of Queen Elizabeth of England who ruled from 1558 until 1603. The Oxford English Dictionary notes this particular piece, Care for thy Soul by William Byrd, is from 1583. Here’s a verse from it that includes a version of our phrase where the word “rack” is paired with the word “wit” to come to the same meaning as ‘rack your brain’.

Quote
Care for the world to do thy bodie right;
Racke not thy wit to winne by wicked waies;
Seek not to oppresse the weake by wrongful might;
To pay thy dew do banish all delayes:
Care to dispend according to thy store,
And in like sort be mindfull of the poore.
End Quote
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.23259612&seq=284&q1=racke

1659
The Last Remains of Sir John Suckling, which was a collection of his poems and letters. This poem was written in French and, according to page 15 of the work, was “English’d thus by the Author”. I believe this is referencing Humphrey Moseley who wrote the forward and printed the work in 1659 at the Princes Arms in St. Pauls Church-yard in London. This is from a section called, Disdain.

Quote
I cannot break so sweet a bond
Unless I prove untrue
Nor can I ever be so fond
To prove untrue for you
Your attempts are but in vain
(To tell you is a favor)
For things that may be, rack your brain
Then lose not thus your labor
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Last_Remains_of_Sir_John_Suckling/gaxkAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22rack%22+your+%22brain%22&pg=PA17&printsec=frontcover

1688
This next example is from a 1688 English translation of Quintus Horatius Flaccus, more commonly known as Horace. The translated work was  called The Odes, Satyrs, and Epistles of Horace.

Quote
Tis Vertue, Sir, to be but free from Vice
And the first step tow’rds being truly Wise
Is to want folly; You use all your skill,
To shun what you suppose the greatest ill
A small estate, or whilst you seek to gain
An Office, a Repulse; You spare no pain
You try your utmost Wit, and rack your Brain
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Odes_Satyrs_and_Epistles_of_Horace_D/DztoAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22rack%22+your+%22brain%22&pg=RA1-PA75&printsec=frontcover

1773
Next up is a work called The Invisible Spy Vol 2 by Explorabilis, a pen name of Eliza Fowler Haywood. There are earlier versions of this work, with several “books” in each volume. I couldn’t find this phrase, which appears in Book 8, Chapter 1, in any of the earlier works. So I am uncertain when this was written. But I know the book I found it in was printed in London in 1773 so I’ll use that date and just note it could have been earlier. I’ll read a short snippet from what the Spy overhears from a group of Presbytarian’s who are defending a parishioner (who it appears is not a good person) from one who is trying to help them see they should not be defending the person just because they attend the same church. Feels a little too familiar these days.

Quote
I am surprised, Sir, you should rack your brain for arguments against the cause of helpless innocence and virtue in distress.
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Invisibe_sic_Spy/oNVDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=rack+your+brain&pg=PA243&printsec=frontcover

1862
This next one comes to us from Australia in the Melbourne Punch. This is dated November 20, 1862. The Punch is a satirical newspaper and this section was called Diogenes to Punch. Diogenes was a greek philosopher and one of the founders of cynicism. In it, it used the goddess Atalanta as a stand-in for something attractive on the outside but full of hypocrisy on the inside. Here is part of the article:

Quote
And so you bow, and smile, and rack your brain for pretty pearls to lay before this little - well, let us say - girl, while if you knew the heart that lay hid under the beautiful covering of flesh - remember flesh is all you see, as insipidities are all you hear -  you’d go away wondering at the worthless bran with which your doll was stuffed.
End Quote
https://newspaperarchive.com/melbourne-punch-nov-20-1862-p-4/

Insipidities are things being said that lack taste or judgement. They may be dull, banal, or just lacking spirit or interest.
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/insipidity_n?tab=meaning_and_use#355256

1895
This next one is from The Weekly News out of Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada and is dated September 17, 1895. It is from a piece titled, Proverb Revised For The Time. I think it’s an update of Aesop’s fable about The Ants and the Grasshopper. But if anyone has another story this could be updating, I’d love to hear your thoughts. https://read.gov/aesop/052.html

Here is the parable with author unknown:
 
Quote
Go to the sluggard, thou ant!
Consider his ways and be wise;
Why sorry and fret, and toil and sweat
While he at leisure lies

You labor from morn till evening,
From early spring till fall,
But the sluggard eats as many sweets
As you, with no labor at all

You fill your store for winter,
But some old hungry hen
Will scent your wheat and with sharp-clawed feet
Will scratch it out again

You’ll starve and freeze but the sluggard,
At charity’s table fed,
Will revel in fat when you lie flat
On your back in the gutter dead

Then learn from the sluggard, oh, ant!
Enjoy your time as it flies;
Nor rack your brain for a heap of grain
While he in slumber lies
End Quote
https://newspaperarchive.com/courtenay-weekly-news-sep-17-1895-p-1/

Next we have two examples from the 1940s. These showcase the two primary ways we see this phrase used. The first is trying really hard to remember something, while the second is trying really hard to think of something in the first place. Rack your brain is used interchangeably in both ways today and usually requires context to know which way is meant, though in most cases the point is made regardless of which way the author meant it.

1943
Here is the first of the two, which focuses on remembering something. It’s out of the Evening Star, Washington DC, USA dated December 23, 1943. It’s an ad for War Bonds. This time frame would have been during World War II. It’s advocating a war bond in every stocking:

Quote
Rack your brain… run over your Christmas list rapidly… whom have you forgotten? Uncle Bill… Aunt Ruth… little Jimmie? Don’t worry… a War Bond will put you in their good graces… and it’s the most appreciated gift, the most wonderful gift you can give.
End Quote
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1943-12-23/ed-1/seq-26/#date1=1756&index=0&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=brain+Rack+your&proxdistance=5&date2=1963&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=rack+your+brain&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

1946
And the second, just two and a half years later, is focused on thinking about something. It’s also an advertisement, this time for jewelry. It is out of the Pascagoula Chronicle Star, Mississippi, USA dated May 3, 1946.

Quote
There is no need to rack your brain wondering what to give - when the most welcome, enduring and satisfying gift of all is jewelry.
End Quote
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87065528/1946-05-03/ed-1/seq-17/#date1=1756&index=11&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=brain+rack+your&proxdistance=5&date2=1963&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=rack+your+brain&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

One last thing before we jump to the modern uses, I want to address the spelling of rack, usually spelled r-a-c-k, but sometimes seen w-r-a-c-k. The OED notes that wrack, with a w, is used to describe the wreck of a ship, as retributive punishment - like in vengeance, and as causing damage or disaster to a person or item.
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/wrack_n1?tab=meaning_and_use#13921125

Here is a post from Merriam-Webster on the subject.

Quote
Rack and wrack in “(w)rack one’s brain” and “nerve-(w)racking” have been used interchangeably since the late 19th century, and both spellings are commonly encountered today in edited prose. Those who prescribe a distinction, however, recommend the original and etymologically backed uses, which means using rack in “rack one’s brain” and “nerve-racking,” and saving wrack for boat- and storm-related imagery, such as “storm-wracked” and “wrack and ruin.”
End Quote
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/rack-vs-wrack

Which means you can use them interchangeably if you wish, but if writing based on a style-guide or for some sort of formal setting, you’d want to stick with what Merriam-Webster mentioned.

With that, it’s time to move to our more modern uses but first we need to say thank you to our sponsors.

A Quick Thank You
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Modern Uses

1981 Song
We’ll start in 1981 with the song Wrack My Brain, spelled with a W, sung by Ringo Starr of Beatles fame. It was released in 1981 on the album Stop and Smell the Roses. It feels very much like a Beatles song. Probably because the song was written by fellow Beatles alumni George Harrison, who also plays guitar and does the backup vocals. . The song is a frustration with the music industry and the pressure to produce hits. Here are some of the lyrics:

Quote
WHAT I HAVE, YOU DON'T WANT,
WHAT YOU WANT, I CAN'T GIVE.
I GOT OUT OF TOUCH WITH YOU AND YOURS,
THE WAY THAT YOU LIVE.
I TRY TO DO MY BEST FOR YOU,
WHILE THE SKY POURS DOWN THE RAIN,
WRACK MY BRAIN.
End Quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMNYZ6LsSec

This usage of wrack, with a w, creates both the idea of thinking hard on how to create a hit song, along with the damage it does to an artist trying to please fans and record companies. It’s exactly the kind of word-play I’d expect from George Harrison and Ringo Starr performs the song well.

1988 Song
This next one is also a song. It’s called Rack My Brains and is sung by Huxton Creepers, an 80s pop/rock band out of Australia. It was released on their 1988 album So This Is Paris. The song is about a person who has been changed by a lover. Here’s the chorus:

Quote
Something is happened to me
I’m not in touch with the way I feel
Something inside me has changed
I can’t understand it though I rack my brains
End Quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaCYdXvNhKc

Huxton Creepers were clearly fans of turns of phrase, because they also have songs called Skin of my Teeth, Part the Seas, and I Swallowed My Pride.

1990ish Photography
This next one is a photograph by David M. Spindel. I was aware of David Spindel from his baseball photographs and I knew he did some John Lennon photographs, too. But he also has a series of photographs in a collection called, “Rebuses”, which he started putting together in either the late 1980s or early 1990s. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a rebus is:

Quote
A cryptic representation of a word or phrase by pictures, symbols, arrangement of letters, etc., which suggest the word or phrase, or the syllables of which it is made up
End Quote
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/rebus_n?tab=meaning_and_use#26524399

I’ll give you an example I remember from school when I was a kid. Imagine a drawing of a person leaping forward in a hopscotch game and at the end of the boxes is the word “conclusions”. This is a rebus, and it means Jumping to Conclusions.

Back to Spindel’s work, one of the images is a series of human brains that are the size of pocket billiard balls and vary in color with solids and stripes and a black eight-ball. Except they are all brains. They are arranged in the triangle-shaped rack that begins a game of eight-ball, the same kind of rack that also begins straight pool, one-pocket, bank pool, and snooker. As you might imagine, the image is meant to represent our phrase Rack Your Brains.
http://spindelvisions.com/shop/sports-posters/84-lou-gehrig.html

We’re gonna play a game with this collection in our behind the scenes video. So join us there to play along. Our behind the scenes videos air every Friday on our patreon, patreon.com/bunnytrailspod.
    

2015 Book
Rack Your Brain Puzzles is a 2015 puzzle book by Michael Watkins. Here’s the synopsis from the publisher.

Quote
Rack Your Brain Puzzles was designed to raise money for charity's (sic) and people in need of help. This book is a puzzle book that has mazes, word searches, and spot the differences. I hope everyone enjoys this book! Note: 100% of profits go to helping someone in need. Thank You!
End Quote
https://www.amazon.com/Rack-Brain-Puzzles-Michael-Watkins/dp/1329228855

2019 Artwork
Racks Your Brain is a 2019 artwork by Mixx Karen. It is water color & ink pen on drawing block. It is available on artmallglobal.com. The image is one of two hands wringing out a disembodied brain, as if trying to get some memory to come falling out. It’s a beautiful work.
https://artmallglobal.com/product/racks-your-brain


Current Store
Rack Your Brain is a teachers pay teachers store that creates resources for other teachers to use in the classroom. It’s based out of California. Here is the ‘about’ section:

Quote
I've been teaching 5th grade since 2019. My store contains a variety of resources I've created for my students throughout the years.

I believe that teamwork and collaboration are important aspects of creating a positive classroom environment. I enjoy using creative teaching strategies, such as escape rooms and digital breakouts, to facilitate critical thinking and teamwork
End Quote
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/rack-your-brain

If you aren’t familiar, teacherspayteachers.com is the largest marketplace for PreK-12 resources, powered by a community of educators.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

Wrap Up
This is such a fun phrase. I like the idea of stretching my brain to try to remember, or just to think, of something. It gives me a mental image of my brain with arms and legs in a Jane Fonda workout video style getting ready to do some stretches so it can get in a good session of thinking or remembering. And since humor is both my joyous state and my coping mechanism, my brain giving me a good laugh with a phrase is always welcome.

Dan:
That’s about all we have for today. If you have any thoughts on the show, or pop culture references we should have included,
reach out to us on Patreon, patreon.com/bunnytrailspod or comment on our website bunnytrailspod.com

Shauna:
It’s poll time!

Recently we asked our Patrons about conferences - Love 'em or Hate 'em? Nearly 70% said it’s a love/hate relationship!

Cheryl says:
Quote
I love online conferences where there's a few lives and the rest I can watch in my own time. I'm disabled so I do one live conference a year with my embroidery guild. I'm able to work things out so I have time to rest in between classes.
End Quote

Dan:
Jan notes:
Quote
I love seeing my colleagues from around the US at national conferences. I’m bringing a national conference to Wichita in 2026 so I won’t get the luxury of seeing a new city, but it should still be nice.
End Quote

I love parts of conferences and very much dislike other parts. As a person who recharges my batteries by being alone or in my comfort zone, conferences are naturally a love/hate thing. I go to my State emergency management conference every year and the National emergency management conference most years. Being able to catch up with folks I don't see very often is fun. But it wears me out. And I often teach a class the two days before the national conference as a pre-conference activity, so in those cases I’m worn out before it even starts!

Shauna:

As a reminder, our silly polls mean absolutely nothing and are not scientifically valid. And patrons of all levels, including our free tiers, can take part. Head over to patreon.com/bunnytrailspod to take this week’s poll!

Outro

Shauna:
Thanks for joining us. We’ll talk to you again next week. Until then remember,

Together:
Words belong to their users.