an elephant never forgets

One remembers everything. A play on the idea that elephants have great memories. I don't think we can pick up where we were before you betrayed me because an elephant never forgets! I would be hesitant to cross him—he's a dangerous man, and an elephant never forgets. A: "It's like Mom remembers every thing I've ever done wrong in my life!" B: "Oh, an elephant never forgets."

baby elephant in the room

An obvious truth or fact, especially one regarded as embarrassing or undesirable, that is being intentionally ignored or left unaddressed. The phrase is usually used when the issue at hand is relatively insignificant and does not constitute a full-grown "elephant in the room." It's not a huge deal, but it’s still the baby elephant in the room, so let's talk about it—why did you lie about going to the mall? Did you not want me to come with you? A: "How are things with Tom?" B: "The argument we had at the party has been a bit of a baby elephant in the room, but overall we're fine." A: "Are you still going to go even though your ex will be there?" B: "Yeah. Sure, it'll be somewhat awkward, but it's just a baby elephant in the room at this point."

eat an elephant one bite at a time

To accomplish a large goal by doing smaller, cumulative tasks. When my kids are overwhelmed about projects for school, I always remind them that you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time. The computer company says that their next hardware revision will be a huge undertaking, but they're in no rush to get it to market. They know by now that you have to eat an elephant one bite at a time. I know there's a lot to do, but you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time. Just focus on labeling these files for now.

See also: an, bite, eat, elephant, one, time

elephant ear

1. Any of several varieties of plants that have large, heart-shaped leaves. A: "Look at those enormous leaves!" B: "Oh wow! I guess that's an elephant ear." Let's sit under this elephant ear—its big leaves will give us some shade. I've never cultivated an elephant ear before. Would it be hard for a gardening novice?

2. A puff pastry that is shaped like a palm leaf. Also known as a "palmier." I know I should be eating better, but I couldn't resist getting an elephant ear at the bakery for breakfast. I've made cream puffs before, sure, but not elephant ears. Hey, if you're getting a donut, can you get me an elephant ear?

elephant ears

Metal discs on the outside of a missile or rocket. The elephant ears on the rocket need to be repaired. A: "Wait, why didn't the rocket launch happen?" B: "Something's wrong with one of the elephant ears, I hear." Have one of the techs look at the elephant ears on this missile ASAP.

elephant in the corner

An obvious truth or fact, especially one regarded as embarrassing or undesirable, that is being intentionally ignored or left unaddressed. We all sat sipping our tea quietly, no one wanting to bring up the elephant in the corner about Joel's expulsion from college. The incident has remained something of an elephant in the corner within our family. I know my impending divorce is the elephant in the corner, so let's talk about it, huh? We can start with my stupidity in not signing a pre-nup!

elephant in the room

An obvious truth or fact, especially one regarded as embarrassing or undesirable, that is being intentionally ignored or left unaddressed. We all sat sipping our tea quietly, no one wanting to bring up the elephant in the room about Joel's expulsion from college. The incident has remained something of an elephant in the room within our family. I know my impending divorce is the elephant in the room, so let's talk about it, huh? We can start with my stupidity in not signing a pre-nup!

elephants

slang Drunk. The term comes from rhyming slang, in which "elephants" is short for "elephant's trunk," which rhymes with "drunk." Primarily heard in UK. Do you remember last night at the pub at all, or were you totally elephants? Well, I must have been elephants if I got up and did karaoke at the bar! Help him get home, will ya? He started drinking whiskey, and now he's elephants.

elephant's trunk

slang Drunk. The phrase comes from rhyming slang in which "elephant's trunk" rhymes with "drunk." Primarily heard in UK. Do you remember last night at the pub at all, or were you elephant's trunk? Well, I must have been elephant's trunk if I got up and did karaoke at the bar! Help him get home, will ya? He started drinking whiskey, and now he's elephant's trunk.

have a memory like an elephant

To have an exceptionally good memory. An allusion to the fact that elephants are known to have great memories. Mom has a memory like an elephant, so ask her what Joe's phone number is. I swear, that kid has a memory like an elephant. He just reminded me about something I told him three weeks ago! It's wild to hear Grandma talk about her childhood in Russia. She might be 93, but she has a memory like an elephant.

See also: an, elephant, have, like, memory

have the memory of an elephant

To have an exceptionally good memory. An allusion to the fact that elephants are known to have great memories. Mom has the memory of an elephant, so she'll be sure to remember Joe's phone number. I swear, that kid has the memory of an elephant. He just reminded me about something I told him three weeks ago! It's wild to hear Grandma talk about her childhood in Russia. She might be 93 years old, but she has the memory of an elephant.

See also: an, elephant, have, memory, of

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

How do you accomplish a large goal? By making progress in small, cumulative steps over time. Honey, I know you're overwhelmed about this project for school, but how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So start out by making a list of all the tasks you need to do, and then just start taking care of them one by one. The computer company says that it's next hardware revision will be monumental, but they're in no rush to get it to market. After all, how do eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I know we have a lot to get done before the merger, but we can't panic. After all, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, right?

kill a fly with an elephant gun

To take excessive, overcomplicated, or extravagant means or force to accomplish something relatively minor or simple. With this new system of issuing licenses, the government is trying to kill a fly with an elephant gun. Four separate departments now handle each stage of an application, when a single department could easily process applications from start to finish. Look, you've got some money issues, sure, but filing for bankruptcy would be killing a fly with an elephant gun.

see pink elephants

To hallucinate or see things incorrectly due to acute alcohol intoxication or withdrawal. The phrase became especially popularized by the 1941 Disney animated film Dumbo, in which the title character accidentally becomes drunk and sees a parade of pink elephant hallucinations. My dad said that he saw pink elephants for a while after he gave up drinking. When I started seeing pink elephants, I knew I had to stop drinking so much.

see the elephant

1. To gain true and valuable life experience of the world, whether negative or positive. Primarily heard in US. I've never understood those people who go to college, get jobs, and get married in the same town where they grew up—surely you'd want to get out and see the elephant a bit, no? I've seen the elephant in my day, kid, so don't talk to me about making sacrifices or having a hard life.

2. To experience military combat. Primarily heard in US. You have images of seeing the elephant the moment you land on foreign shores, but you actually spend most of your time sitting around at the base. The war deprived the world of millions of young men, many of whom were seeing the elephant for the very first time.

See also: elephant, see

white elephant

1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless. The term comes from a story about the king of Siam, who was said to have given an albino elephant, considered sacred, to a member of the court whom he disliked, knowing that taking care of the animal would exhaust the person's fortune. At first, Eve was excited to inherit the farm, but it soon proved to be a white elephant she couldn't afford.

2. A fundraiser in which unwanted items have been donated for sale. The church is having a white elephant sale to raise funds for the new vestibule. I'm excited to see what kind of treasures people bring from their garages!

3. A gift exchange in which participants bring unwanted items that can then be chosen and swapped, depending on the particular rules of the gathering. A: "What's with the ugly vase?" B: "We had a white elephant at work, and this is what I ended up with. I'll probably bring it next year."

See also: elephant, white

white elephant in the room

Seemingly a conflation of the phrases "elephant in the room" and "white elephant."

1. An obvious truth or fact, especially one regarded as embarrassing or undesirable, that is being intentionally ignored or left unaddressed. We all sat sipping our tea quietly, no one wanting to bring up the white elephant in the room about Joel's expulsion from college.

2. Some topic or issue related to white ethnicity or cultural identity that is regarded as troubling or problematic. The white elephant in the room is white politicians' lack of commitment to initiatives that benefit marginalized groups.

seeing pink elephants

and seeing pink spiders; Seeing snakes

intoxicated; recovering from a drinking bout; having the delirium tremens. When I got to the point of seeing pink elephants, I knew that something had to be done. The old one who's shaking—he's probably seeing snakes.

white elephant

something that is large and unwieldy and is either a nuisance or expensive to keep up. Bob's father-in-law has given him an old Rolls Royce, but it's a real white elephant. He has no place to park it and can't afford the gas for it. Those antique vases Aunt Mary gave me are white elephants. They're ugly and I have no place to put them.

See also: elephant, white

see the elephant

Experience more than one wants to, learn a hard lesson; also, see combat, especially for the first time. For example, After the expedition lost two climbers in an avalanche, they had seen the elephant and turned back , or On his first tour of duty he saw the elephant. This slangy expression, first recorded in 1835, alludes to having seen all the sights one can see, including that rare beast, and returning home unimpressed or disappointed.

See also: elephant, see

white elephant

An unwanted or useless item, as in The cottage at the lake had become a real white elephant-too run down to sell, yet costly to keep up , or Grandma's ornate silver is a white elephant; no one wants it but it's too valuable to discard . This expression comes from a legendary former Siamese custom whereby an albino elephant, considered sacred, could only be owned by the king. The king would bestow such an animal on a subject with whom he was displeased and wait until the high cost of feeding the animal, which could not be slaughtered, ruined the owner. The story was told in England in the 1600s, and in the 1800s the term began to be used figuratively.

See also: elephant, white

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

see the elephant

AMERICAN

If you see the elephant, you experience something very extreme, especially war. We marched all day — we were going to see the elephant at last.

See also: elephant, see

a white elephant

COMMON If you describe something such as a new building or project as a white elephant, you mean that it has cost a lot of money but is completely useless. The whole complex was a white elephant, constructed at enormous expense but never used. After 17 years under construction, the factory is still only partly built and is far from being operational. It is in fact, a great white elephant. Note: There is a story that the Kings of Siam used to give white elephants, which are very rare, to courtiers who they did not like. The animals cost so much to keep that their owners spent all their money on them and became very poor.

See also: elephant, white

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

the elephant in the corner

an embarrassing or awkward topic that everyone is aware of but no one wishes to discuss. An alternative formulation is the elephant in the room .

2003 CNN Of course, the elephant in the corner for all these developments is Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority.

see the elephant

see the world; get experience of life. US

An elephant is used here to symbolize or typify something which is extremely remarkable or exotic.

1994 Fighting Firearms These men have all seen the elephant and represent a typical cross-section of the…staff in general.

See also: elephant, see

a white elephant

a possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of.

In former times, the rare albino elephant was regarded as holy. It was highly prized by the kings of Siam (now Thailand) and its upkeep was extremely expensive. It was apparently the practice for a king of Siam to give one of the elephants to a courtier they disliked: the unfortunate recipient would usually be financially ruined by the attempt to maintain the animal.

See also: elephant, white

the ˌelephant in the ˈroom

a serious problem that everyone is aware of but which they ignore and choose not to mention: The growing budget deficit is the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about.

see pink ˈelephants

(informal) see things that are not really there, because you are drunk

a white ˈelephant

a thing that is useless and no longer needed, although it may have cost a lot of money: That theatre is a real white elephant. It cost millions to build and nobody ever goes there.This comes from the story that in Siam (now Thailand), the king would give a white elephant as a present to somebody that he did not like. That person would have to spend all their money on looking after the rare animal.

See also: elephant, white

pink elephants

and pink spiders

1. n. the delirium tremens. He was shaking something awful from the pink spiders.

2. n. hallucinatory creatures seen during the delirium tremens. (see also seeing pink elephants.) He said pink elephants were trying to kill him. He’s really drunk.

seeing pink elephants

and seeing pink spiders and seeing snakes

tv. alcohol intoxicated; recovering from a drinking bout; having the delirium tremens. When I got to the point of seeing pink elephants, I knew that something had to be done. He’s screaming something about seeing pink spiders, and he wants a drink.

white elephant

n. a useless or unwanted object. (From the notion that an extremely valuable gift that requires great expense for its care and protection is an unwanted gift.) Take all those white elephants to the flea market.

See also: elephant, white

elephant in the room

A matter or problem that is obvious or of great importance but that is not discussed openly.

elephant in the room, an

An extremely obvious circumstance that can hardly be overlooked. Jo Bannister used it in Liars All (2009), “She hadn’t told Paddy how serious Jonathan’s condition was . . . But it was like an elephant in the drawing room; Paddy didn’t need pointing it out to know it was there.” And Lindsay Coates’s column about Haiti’s lack of land rights slowing recovery from the devastating earthquake was headlined: “Land Tenure: Haiti’s Elephant in the Room” (Huffington Post, July 21, 2010). See also seen the elephant.

seen the elephant

To have seen or experienced as much as one can endure. This term, which dates from the first half of the 1800s, uses “elephant” in the sense of a remarkable or surprising sight, practice, or the like. In the military, the phrase was used during the Mexican War of the 1840s to indicate having seen combat for the first time. In civilian life, the television show Gunsmoke (1974) had it: “I’ve had a checkered life. You might say I’ve seen the elephant.” See also elephant in the room.

white elephant, a

An unwanted possession that is hard to get rid of but too valuable to throw away. The term comes from a widely told story of an ancient Siamese custom whereby only the king could own an albino elephant, which therefore was considered sacred. When the king was displeased with a courtier, he would give him such a white elephant and wait until the high costs of feeding the beast—being sacred, it could not be killed—caused the man to be ruined. The custom became known in England in the seventeenth century, and by the nineteenth century the term had been transferred to other unwanted items. G. E. Jewsbury wrote, “His services are like so many white elephants of which nobody can make use, and yet that drain one’s gratitude” (letter, 1851).

white elephant

An expensive but useless possession. Albino elephants are extremely rare, and any born in Siam became the property of the king. These favored specimens were not allowed to be worked or to be killed without the royal permission. As the story goes, the king often perversely gave a white elephant to a courtier who had fallen out of favor, just so the nobleman would spend a small fortune maintaining the useless gift for the rest of its life. Rummage sales in which people donate items for which they (and possibly no one else) have no use are often called “white elephant sales.”

See also: elephant, white

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