Elephant in the room

What do you think ‘ elephant in the room’ means?

What would be strange about an elephant in a room?

What does “elephant in the room” mean? It is to ignore an obvious problem. It is to pretend not to see an issue that stands out in a very big way.

Example: As Jim was biking to work, a car drove through water on the road and threw water all over him. He was completely wet! But he still went to work because he didn’t want to be late. 

Soon after arriving at work, Jim walked into a business meeting. He sat down completely wet and acted like nothing was wrong. So his boss turned to him and asked, “Jim, would you like to explain the elephant in the room and tell us why you’re wet?”

Where did this phrase or idiom come from?

If an elephant were in your room, you would notice it. How could you not? It’d stick out. Elephants are the largest land animals on earth. They can grow up to 4 meters tall and weigh as much as7,000 kg. So an elephant in any type of room is not something that can easily be ignored.

So this phrase or idiom is a metaphor for when people are aware of a problem. But they decide to not acknowledge it. It’s as if there’s a giant animal in the room and they are intentionally ignoring it.

It is no easy to know when this phrase or idiom started. However, it looks like this phrase is not old. The reason for this is because its earliest known use in print is the mid 20th century.

According to Wikipedia, the Oxford English Dictionary records the New York Times newspaper from June 20th, 1959, as the first recorded use of this phrase.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=7, B=1, C=6, D=5, E=4, F=8, G=2, H=3

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1. You must not ignore the weather forecast. You must take an umbrella or you will get wet and cold.

2. It is obvious that 1 + 1 =2.

3. She was the stand out best student in the school.

4. If you wear a red dress you will stick out.

5. Pigs are often used as metaphors for rude people.

6. Advertising increases our awareness about a product or service.

7. I acknowledge that this class is very hard.

8. His intention is to study economics in Germany.

    

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1. Why would someone ignore an elephant in the room? Give some examples.

2. Tell about a time something was obvious but you did not want to tell the other person. For example their fashion was obviously strange.

3. What stands out as interesting from today’s story?

4. If you are going for a job interview, how can you stick out from all the other applicants?

5. Do you have any favorite metaphors? – Perhaps you can think of an animal metaphor.

6. Is there a problem you are aware of but you intentionally ignore it? Why?

7. When someone acknowledges something good you have done, how does it make you feel?

8. Do you think it is better to intentionally ignore another person’s actions that make you angry or unhappy? Why or why not or when is it better to ignore them?