Editing Elephant in the room (section)

==Usage==
The term refers to a question, problem, solution, or controversial issue which is obvious to everyone who knows about the situation, but which is deliberately ignored because to do otherwise would cause great embarrassment, sadness, or arguments, or is simply taboo. The idiom can imply a [[value judgment]] that the issue ought to be discussed openly, or it can simply be an acknowledgment that the issue is there and not going to go away by itself.

The term is often used to describe an issue that involves a social [[taboo]] or which generates disagreement, such as race, religion, politics, homosexuality, mental illness, or suicide. It is applicable when a subject is emotionally charged, and the people who might have spoken up decide that it is probably best avoided.<ref>{{cite book |last=Palta |first=Namrata |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1245818231 |title=Spoken English: A detailed and simplified course for learning spoken English |date=2007 |publisher=Lotus Press |page=95 |isbn=978-81-8382-052-3|location=New Delhi |oclc=1245818231}}</ref>

The idiom is commonly used in addiction recovery terminology to describe the reluctance of friends and family of an addicted person to discuss the person's problem, thus aiding the person's denial. Especially in reference to alcohol abuse, the idiom is sometimes coupled with that of the [[Seeing pink elephants|pink elephant]], "the pink elephant in the room."{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

The expression has also been used as a metaphorical idiom in Spanish. In 1994, the [[8000 Process]] was a legal investigation of a Colombian presidential campaign. There were accusations that the campaign of Colombian Liberal Party candidate [[Ernesto Samper]] was partially funded with drug money from the [[Cali Cartel]]. Insisting on his innocence, Samper stated that if drug money had entered the presidential campaign, it had done so "behind his back". [[Pedro Rubiano Sáenz|Cardinal Pedro Rubiano]], a leader of Colombia's [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]], stated in an interview that not knowing that drug money financed part of the presidential campaign was similar to not noticing "an elephant entering one's living room".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.canalrcn.com/noticias/index.php?op=info&idC=28266&idP=119&idS=742|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004609/http://www.canalrcn.com/noticias/index.php?op=info&idC=28266&idP=119&idS=742|url-status=dead|title=Canal RCN - Noticias RCN<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=28 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=30217|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120910055609/http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=30217|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 September 2012|title=Articulo Archivado FRASES DEL AÑO<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> Since then, the events that led to drug money financing the "Samper for President" campaign have been referred to as "The Elephant."

The title of [[Alan Clarke]]'s 1989 television film ''[[Elephant (1989 film)|Elephant]]'' references the term. This was in turn influential in the naming of [[Gus Van Sant]]'s [[Elephant (2003 film)|2003 film of the same name]], although Van Sant thought [[blind men and an elephant|a different expression]] was being referenced. 

Graffiti artist [[Banksy]], in his 2006 Los Angeles show [[Barely Legal (Banksy)|Barely Legal]], included a live elephant painted to match the wallpaper as a literal presentation of the concept.<ref>{{cite web | last=Bowes | first=Peter | title='Guerrilla artist' Banksy hits LA | website=BBC NEWS | date=September 14, 2006 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5344676.stm | access-date=March 22, 2025}}</ref>

[[Alexandra Burke]]'s 2012 single "[[Elephant (Alexandra Burke song)|Elephant]]" also uses the concept. Burke incorrectly claimed to have brought the phrase to the United Kingdom from the United States.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://metro.co.uk/2021/11/20/alexandra-burke-finally-addresses-iconic-elephant-in-the-room-meme-15638449/|title=Alexandra Burke finally addresses her iconic 'elephant in the room' meme|first=Emily|last=Bashforth|date=20 November 2021|work=Metro|access-date=17 March 2022}}</ref> 

Terry Kettering's named his poem ''The Elephant in the Room''.<ref>Mauk, Kristen L. (2006).  {{Google books|iYjr3KvUXyYC|''Gerontological Nursing: Competencies for Care,'' p. 808.|page=808}}; "The Elephant in the Room," [http://www.chums.info/ChumsMagazine.pdf ''CHUMS Magazine,'' p. 23.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721192753/http://www.chums.info/ChumsMagazine.pdf |date=21 July 2011 }} May 2003.</ref> In a November 2013 edition of [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine, New Jersey governor [[Chris Christie]] was labeled as the "Elephant in the Room" on the cover page.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/744/chris-christie-was-born-to-run/ |magazine=Time |access-date=23 October 2023 |title=Chris Christie Was Born to Run |date=18 November 2013 }}</ref> 

===Similar===
A variation is the phrase "elephant in the corner" which is infrequently used to the same effect.<ref>[http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/citation/aapnews.20100508-4v1  "‘Elephant in the corner of the living room’: Discrimination common, associated with depression among minority children,"] ''AAPNews'' ([[American Academy of Pediatrics]]). 8 May 2010; O'Connor, P. (2008) [http://ulir.ul.ie/handle/10344/412  "The Elephant in the Corner: Gender and Policies Related to Higher Education,"] ''Administration'' [Institute of Public Administration of Ireland] 56(1), pp. 85-110.</ref>

Logician and philosopher [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] used an example of a rhinoceros in the room to show either the impossibility of disproving negative existential statements or perhaps a more subtle philosophical point.<ref>MacDonald, JF (1993) [http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?act=refs&CODE=note_detail&id=1165251908 "Russel, Wittgenstein and the problem of the rhinoceros"] ''Southern Journal of Philosophy'' 31(4) 409-24.</ref>