What Does White Elephant In The Room Mean

If there is an elephant in the room it means that an obvious problem is being ignored.

What does white elephant in the room mean.

In modern usage it is an object building project scheme business venture facility etc considered expensive but without use or value. What does white elephant expression mean. Jim arrived at work and his clothes were soaking wet. An obvious truth that is deliberately ignored by everyone in a situation meaning pronunciation translations and examples.

Definition of white elephant in the idioms dictionary. Definitions by the largest idiom dictionary. The meaning if not the exact wording dates from at least the 1950s and is possibly some years older than that. He was scheduled for a business meeting that was starting any moment so not wanting to be late he.

Put another way it is a noticeable issue that is not acknowledged or addressed. An elephant in the room definition. In the 1950s the elephant in the room came to mean what it means today something enormous that people choose to. The first reference to the phrase that i have found is in the charleston gazette july 1952.

The elephant in the room is a large obvious and important thing that no one wants to address because the problem is uncomfortable. A white elephant is a possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost particularly that of maintenance is out of proportion to its usefulness. The elephant in the room is an american phrase with murky origins the first reference being in 1935 to mean something obvious and incongruous. Chicago that s an old indian word meaning get that elephant out of your room.