The elephant in the room means a big problem or important issue that everyone knows about but no one wants to talk about. People may avoid mentioning it because it is uncomfortable, embarrassing, or difficult.
The idiom is from the nonsense image of a huge elephant standing in a room while everyone pretends it is not there. Because an elephant is impossible to miss, the idea shows how strange it is to ignore something so obvious.
The idiom is from the nonsense image of a huge elephant standing in a room while everyone pretends it is not there. Because an elephant is impossible to miss, the idea shows how strange it is to ignore something so obvious.
We kept discussing the budget, but the elephant in the room was that the company might close next year.