elephants in the room
Glaring ignored issues
Elephants in the room are obvious problems or issues that everyone present is aware of but no one mentions.
The singular elephant in the room is more common—the plural suggests multiple unaddressed topics: We've got several elephants in the room: the budget shortfall, the pending lawsuit, and the CEO's departure.
- unspokenNot verbally expressed
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
- family secretsConcealed household truths
- hush hushExtremely secret, concealed
- communicationExchanging ideas or information
tension · third rail · metaphor · idiom · groupthink · suppression · silent treatment · awkward silence · blind spot · denial · issue · acknowledgment · psychology · implied · skeleton in the closet · swept under the rug · cognitive dissonance · conversation
elephants in the roomaired grievances
cards on the table · straight talk · cleared the air · out in the open · calling a spade a spade
elephants in the roomunknown unknowns
Things beyond awareness entirely
hidden agendas · minor details · undercurrents · beneath the surface · buried secrets
elephants in the roomsmall talk
Polite trivial conversation
idle chatter · water cooler talk · common ground · icebreakers