| 释义 |
elephant /ˈelɪfənt/► SEE ALLthe elephant in the rooma white elephant
●the ˌelephant in the ˈrooma serious problem that everyone is aware of but which they ignore and choose not to mention 房间里的大象（指不肯正视且不愿提及的严重问题）◆The growing budget deficit is the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about.
不断增加的预算赤字成了大家心知肚明却没人想提及的禁忌话题。●a white ˈelephanta thing that is useless and no longer needed, although it may have cost a lot of money 昂贵却无用的东西◆That theatre is a real white elephant. It cost millions to build and nobody ever goes there.那家剧院真是个累赘，修建时耗资数百万，却从来没有人光顾。 ORIGIN 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. 这个习语源于暹罗（即现在的泰国）的一个故事。当时的国王会送白象给他讨厌的人，让这人不得不花掉所有的钱来照顾这种稀有的动物。 |