When management met to discuss how to deal with the downturn in our company’s results, many ideas were brought to the table. But it took a long time for anyone to mention the elephant in the room (ein offensichtliches, heikles Thema, dessen Diskussion gezielt vermieden wird) – some people would have to lose their jobs.
The origins of this recent idiom (it started to appear regularly in print during the twentieth century) are uncertain. But the image is clear – a huge elephant in a room is something that everyone can see quite clearly. So to avoid the elephant is to avoid discussing the uncomfortable topic that everyone is aware of.