elephant in the room

Etymology

Possibly from Ivan Andreevich Kyrlov'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.

Noun

elephant in the room (plural elephants in the room)

1. (idiomatic) A problem or difficult issue that is very obvious, but is ignored for the convenience or comfort of those involved.
   • 2008, Nicholas Rufford, "Motormouth: The car of the future, at £1,300," Sunday Times (UK), 6 Jan.,

     There is an elephant in the room that nearly every politician and green campaigner is ignoring. It’s called population growth.

See also

• 800-pound gorilla