Elephant in the room
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ed Poor (talk | contribs) at 18:29, December 30, 2009. It may differ significantly from current revision.
The phrase elephant in the living room (or elephant in the room) is a colloquial way of referring to a large, obvious problem which, for some reason, nobody is willing to deal with or acknowledge directly. It often becomes a taboo subject, and anyone trying to address the matter is hushed up, shunned, belittled or even punished.
The elephant in the living room is viewed as a negative response where open and truthful dialogue is preferred.