Elephant in the room
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"Elephant in the room" (also "elephant in the sitting room", "elephant in the living room", "elephant in the parlor", "elephant in the corner", "elephant on the dinner table", "elephant in the kitchen", "elephant on the coffee table", and "horse in the corner") is an English idiom for an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed. It is based on the idea that an elephant in a room would be impossible to overlook; thus, people in the room who pretend the elephant is not there might be concerning themselves with relatively small and even irrelevant matters, compared to the looming big one.
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[edit] Origins
The Oxford English Dictionary gives the first-known use of the phrase as The New York Times in June 20, 1959: "Financing schools has become a problem about equal to having an elephant in the living room. It's so big you just can't ignore it."[1]
[edit] Usage
The term refers to a question, problem, solution, or controversial issue that is obvious, but which is ignored by a group of people, generally out of embarrassment or taboo. The idiom can imply a value judgment that the issue ought to be discussed openly, or it can simply be an acknowledgment that the issue is there and not going to go away by itself.
The term is often used to describe an issue that involves a social taboo, such as race or religion.
The idiom is commonly used in addiction recovery terminology to describe the reluctance of friends and family of an addicted person to discuss the person's problem, thus aiding the person's denial. It is sometimes invoked as a "pink elephant", possibly in reference to alcohol abuse.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "OED, Draft Additions June 2006: elephant, n.". OUP. http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50073129?. Retrieved on 2008-11-11.
