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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Elephant(s) in the room #120476 01/19/2004 1:32 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York I encountered this phrase twice yesterday: once on the radio (I can't remember the context; wasn't paying enough attention), and again in the NYT Book Review section, where Jay McInerney uses the expression as an aside: "Sorry, I tried, but I couldn't ignore the elephant in the room." Yesterday was the first time I'd heard/read the expression. Is anyone out there familiar with it? What exactly does it mean? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Share Post on Reddit Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted Elephant(s) in the room AnnaStrophic 01/19/2004 1:32 PM Re: Elephant(s) in the room Wordwind 01/19/2004 1:38 PM Re: Elephant(s) in the room maverick 01/19/2004 2:00 PM Re: Elephant(s) in the room Capfka 01/19/2004 6:03 PM Re: Elephant(s) in the room Wordwind 01/19/2004 7:03 PM Re: Elephant(s) in the room belMarduk 01/19/2004 8:48 PM no laughing matter wofahulicodoc 01/19/2004 9:54 PM Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Flat Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary Forum Statistics Forums16 Topics13,916 Posts230,383 Members9,211 Most Online7,006 Mar 7th, 2026 Newest Members Boo boo kitty fu, peterreineck, Peripatetic Toad, JerryC, blvd 9,211 Registered Users Top Posters(30 Days) wofahulicodoc 33 A C Bowden 17 Top Posters wwh 13,858 Faldage 13,803 Jackie 11,613 wofahulicodoc 11,208 tsuwm 10,542 LukeJavan8 9,974 Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210 AnnaStrophic 6,511 Wordwind 6,296 of troy 5,400

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