This mini episode teaches you the interesting expression “the elephant in the room.”
Episode 203 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the very interesting expression “the elephant in the room.” What does it mean, and how do you use it? Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“This is Im from South Korea, and you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 203 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
The expression I want to teach you today is “the elephant in the room.” The elephant in the room. That’s elephant: e-l-e-p-h-a-n-t, in the, room: r-o-o-m. The elephant in the room.
What does it mean when we call something the elephant in the room? When we call something the elephant in the room, we are saying that it is an important topic that no one is talking about. It’s an important topic that people are afraid to talk about. Maybe people think if they talk about this topic, somebody will get angry. Or somebody will get embarrassed, or it will start an argument, or some other bad thing will happen.
Let me give you an example of a situation where you might use the expression “the elephant in the room.”
Let’s say that one of your friends got fired from her job. And that weekend, you go out with your friend and some other friends to have dinner or to get drinks together. I guess this is happening when there is not a pandemic going on. So, you go out with a group of friends, and you are all sitting there, having your dinner or having your drinks. And no one is talking about the fact that your friend got fired. Nobody is asking her questions about it. Nobody is mentioning this. Nobody is comforting your friend to try to make her feel better about being fired. Nobody is mentioning it at all.
You could say, “The elephant in the room was the fact that my friend got fired.” And if you say that, what you mean is, “Everybody was thinking about it, but nobody was talking about it. Everybody was avoiding this entire topic.” Maybe everybody was afraid of making your friend feel worse. Maybe they were afraid of embarrassing your friend or making her angry. Whatever the reason was, they were ignoring the important and obvious thing that everybody was thinking about. It would be the same as ignoring an elephant in the middle of the room. If there was actually an elephant in the room, everybody would see it. Everybody would notice it. Of course—it would be obvious! There would be no way to miss this elephant.
And it’s the same if there is an important topic that everybody is thinking about: nobody is missing it, nobody can ignore it, but no one is talking about it. No one is saying anything about it. They are all pretending like it’s not there.
And that is “the elephant in the room.” This is an interesting expression that I think you should know.
Outro
And that’s the end of episode 203 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can use at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Im recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with another episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I’ll see you soon.