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In Chinese, there is a word 傻瓜(fool)式(style), usually use as 傻瓜(fool)式(style)安装(installation)包(package) and 傻瓜(fool)式(style)方法(method) .

傻瓜式 usually indicate a super easy procedure, can mean a way/method is so simple that even a fool can complete it easily (such as just click mouse once to complete installation of a software).

Google Translate 傻瓜式安装 to Fool-style installation .But I google fool-style, the results seem not much relevant.

What is the most proper word for 傻瓜式?

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  • What context do you want to use the word/phrase? Formal or informal?
    – SteveES
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 8:24
  • @SteveES I come up this while writing a program's readme.txt . Though I ask this question is just by curiosity, not for specific purpose.
    – Mithril
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 8:28
  • If you rename your file to "ignoreme.txt", more people would open it and read it.
    – TimR
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 11:03
  • It doesn't align with your use case exactly, but there's a nicely overlapping term "for dummies" extrapolated from a popular series of how-to guides.
    – Luke Sawczak
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 11:57

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There are a couple of English words that are pretty similar (meaning that it is something that anyone can do):

Foolproof

(of a plan or machine) so simple and easy to understand that it is unable to go wrong or be used wrongly
Cambridge Dictionary

and

Idiot-proof

extremely easy to use
Cambridge Dictionary

Idiot-proof is more informal than foolproof. Both of these terms, although perhaps foolproof especially, carry more of an implication that something can't go wrong, rather than an implication that the use/execution is especially simple. For example, you could have foolproof instructions for something that takes many steps to complete. The point is that anyone can do it, even a fool/idiot.

There may be some situations where there may be a context-specific idiom relating to a design someone has come up with making something simple, e.g. plug and play or one-click

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A couple of very informal phrases that connote simplicity:

"Just click the mouse. That's all there is to it. Easy peasy."

"This software is as easy as pie to install."

They can even be used as adjectives directly applied to the noun:

easy-peasy installation

easy-as-pie installation

I don't offer them as direct translations of "fool style" (SteveES's idiot-proof and fool-proof seem better for that). But if you saw those phrases in a review of the software, you'd understand that the author of the review thinks installation was very simple and easy.

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I think it relies on circumstances you put the phrase. eg. "a point-and-shoot camera" has been translated to "傻瓜式相机". The base idea of the phrase is "simple and easy to use or simple operation". but it could be translated differently when its applied in different products like the one mentioned above.

For your case, I guess it could be "one-click installation".

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  • Actullay one-click lost the original meaning in Chinese. That's why I'm looking for a common equivalent word in English.
    – Mithril
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 8:21
  • well, "a point-and-shoot camera" lost the original meaning in Ch too. A direct translation might not fit for the folks who speak English. As for foolproof and idiot-proof, I know a Chinese phrase "防呆" can address this meaning. like DIMM Slot on PC mother board, you can not insert wrongly because there is fool proof groove on the slot. People call it "防呆槽".
    – dan
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 13:18
  • I looked into some Chinese sites regarding Windows system installation. what they called "傻瓜式安装" typically uses the method of "one-click installation". Some sites use the term as "傻瓜式一键安装".
    – dan
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 13:29

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