哈尔滨清源围棋学校:请教各位英语高手elephant-in-room是什么意思？

在房间里的大象

The elephant in the room (also elephant in the living room, elephant in the corner, elephant on the dinner table, etc.) is an English idiom for a question or problem that very obviously stands, but which is ignored for the convenience of one or other party. It derives its symbolic meaning from the fact that an elephant would indeed be conspicuous and remarkable in a small room; thus the idiom also implies a value judgment that the issue should be discussed openly. 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 in his denial.

The idiom is also occasionally invoked as "pink elephant in the corner," possibly in reference to alcohol abuse, or for no other reason than a pink elephant is more visible than a normal elephant.

Alan Clarke's 1989 short television film 'Elephant' was a reference to this phrase; the elephant in this case was the troubles in Northern Ireland. In an attempt to illustrate the core of the problem, Clarke's film stripped away all dialogue and plot, and was essentially a series of unrelated, motiveless shootings. [1]

Gus Van Sant's 2003 film Elephant, which is named after the Clarke film, places the idiom in the context of a Columbine-style high school shooting - although this was apparently inadvertent, as Van Sant apparently believed Clarke was referring to the fable of the blind men investigating an elephant, each perceiving a different object. [2]

An episode of American cartoon Family Guy features a giant squid in the Griffin's kitchen, which the family refuses to acknowledge (in addition to making excuses for events caused by the squid; if the squid breaks something, it is blamed on the wind). It is seemingly a play on the concept of the elephant in the room, replacing the elephant with an even more noticeable animal (as the squid is a sea-dwelling creature).

不懂,猜一下: 是不是局促的意思.

Elephant In The Room 封面设计
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