study Idiom

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a quick study

someone who learns new things quickly and easily.

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quick study

(See a quick study)

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brown study|brown|study

n. phr. A time of deep thought about something; a deep thoughtful mood. When his wife found him, he had pushed away his books and was in a brown study.

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quick study|quick|study

n. phr. One who acquires new skills and habits in record time. Sue is new at her job but people have confidence in her because she is a quick study.

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brown study, in a

brown study, in a
Daydreaming or deeply contemplative, as in Margaret sits in the library, in a brown study. This term dates from the late 1500s, and although by then in a study had long meant “lost in thought,” the reason for adding brown is unclear. Moreover, the present idiom also is ambiguous, some holding that it denotes genuine thoughtfulness and others that it signifies absentmindedness.

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study

study
see brown study, in a.