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A problem or difficult issue that is very obvious, but is ignored for the convenience or comfort of those involved.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
Examples
- Near-synonyms: 800-pound gorilla, gorilla in the room, 800-pound gorilla in the room
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: emperor's new clothes, 800-pound gorilla, gorilla in the room, 800-pound gorilla in the room
Antonyms: none provided
Likely US origin, or possibly from Ivan Andreyevich Krylov's 1814 fable, The Inquisitive Man, which tells of a man going to a museum and noticing all sorts of things apart from an elephant.
Across languages
Translations
27 source translations are retained for this English entry.
-
Albanian:
elefanti në dhomë
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Amharic:
በክፍሉ ውስጥ ዝሆን
(bäkfəlu wəsṭ zəhon)
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Armenian:
փիղ մեջ տարածությունը
(pʻiġ meǰ taracutʻyunə)
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Chinese Mandarin:
房間裡的大象 /房间里的大象
(fángjiān lǐ de dàxiàng)
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Dutch:
olifant in de kamer
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Esperanto:
elefanto en la ĉambro
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Finnish:
vaiettu tosiasia
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Finnish:
virtahepo olohuoneessa
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
French:
l'éléphant dans la pièce
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Georgian:
ადგილში სპილო
(adgilši sṗilo)
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
German:
Elefant im Raum
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Hebrew:
פיל בחדר
(pil ba-ẖéder)
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Hindi:
कमरे में हाथी
(kamre mẽ hāthī)
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Hungarian:
elefánt a szobában
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Indonesian:
gajah dalam ruangan
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Italian:
elefante nella stanza
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Japanese:
部屋の象
(Heya no zō)
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Korean:
방안의 코끼리
(bang'anui kokkiri)
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Polish:
słoń w salonie
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Portuguese:
elefante na sala
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Romanian:
elefantul din cameră
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Russian:
слона-то я и не приметил
(slona-to ja i ne primetil)
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Russian:
скользкая тема
(skolʹzkaja tema)
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Spanish:
elefante en la habitación
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Swedish:
elefanten i rummet
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Thai:
ช้างในห้อง
(cháang-nai-hɔ̂ng)
— problem that is obvious but ignored
-
Turkish:
odadaki fil
— problem that is obvious but ignored
