Elephant in the room

English with Yoo! 는 일상생활에서 자주 쓰이는 다양한 표현들을 익히는 시간입니다.

I’ll give you a daily introduction to some meaningful and useful everyday English words and phrases! So let’s get started today!

Hi everyone, this is Jennifer Yoo and with ENGLISH WITH YOO! 안녕하세요 English with Yoo!의 Jennifer Yoo입니다.

[오디오 듣기] Elephant in the room

오늘의 영어 표현은 Elephant in the room입니다.

Today, we’re going to talk about what ‘elephant in the room’ means and when we can use that phrase. 그럼 오늘의 대화를 들어보면서 ‘Elephant in the room’이 무슨 뜻인지 알아 보겠습니다. 잘 들어보세요.

Elephant in the room
Jason: How are you and your wife? It must be nice to be newlyweds!
Mike: Yes it is, but there is a lot of learning to do. These days, we are talking about the basic financial planning issues that are commonly encountered by newly married couples.
Jason: Great! You know, the elephant in the room between couples is often money and talking about it can be difficult.
Mike: Yes, you’re right.
Jason: But even though you guys don’t want to talk about it, it is best to do it now than later.
Mike: I agree.

Jason이 “How are you and your wife? 너희 부부 요즘 어떻게 지내니? It must be nice to be newlyweds! 틀림없어. 신혼이니까 분명히 즐거울 거야.”라고 말하자, Mike가 “Yes it is, but there is a lot of learning to do. 응, 즐겁기는 한데 배울 게 무척 많아. These days, we are talking about the basic financial planning issues that are commonly encountered by newly married couples. 요즘 우린 보통 신혼부부들이 겪는 기본적인 재정 문제에 관해 이야기하고 있어.”라고 대답하고 있어요. Jason이 “Great! You know, the elephant in the room between couples is often money and talking about it can be difficult. 맞아. 부부 사이에 돈 문제는 아주 중요하지만, 이야기 꺼내기가 힘들어.”라고 말하자, Mike가 “Yes, you’re right. 그래, 맞아.”라고 답하고 있어요. Jason이 “But even though you guys don’t want to talk about it, it is best to do it now than later. 말 하기 껄끄러운 문제기는 하지만, 미루지 말고 그냥 지금 이야기하는 게 더 좋아.”라고 말하자, Jason이 “I agree. 응, 맞아.”라고 말하고 있네요. Keep today’s phrase ‘elephant in the room’ in mind and now let’s listen to the conversation again. 그럼 다시 한번 대화를 들어볼까요?

Elephant in the room
Jason: How are you and your wife? It must be nice to be newlyweds!
Mike: Yes it is, but there is a lot of learning to do. These days, we are talking about the basic financial planning issues that are commonly encountered by newly married couples.
Jason: Great! You know, the elephant in the room between couples is often money and talking about it can be difficult.
Mike: Yes, you’re right.
Jason: But even though you guys don’t want to talk about it, it is best to do it now than later.
Mike: I agree.

오늘의 영어 표현은 ‘Elephant in the room’입니다. The phrase “Elephant in the room” means that there is an obvious problem or an awkward situation that everyone knows about but no one is talking about it because it is embarrassing or uncomfortable. 방안에 코끼리가 있다고 한번 상상해 보세요. 몸집이 워낙 커서 한눈에 확 띄겠지요. 이처럼 Elephant in the room은 눈에 띄는 분명한 문제나 무시할 수 없는 문제를 가리키는데요, 누구나 잘못됐다는 것을 알면서도 이야기하고 싶어 하지 않는 문제, 명백한 사실이지만 여러가지 이유로 무시되는 문제에 관해 말할 때 쓸 수 있습니다. 예문을 두 개 들어볼까요? 생각하기 싫은 골치 아픈 문제가 있을 때, “We have an elephant in the room but I don’t think we should talk about it. 분명히 문제가 있기는 한데 논의하지 않는 게 좋겠다.”라고 말할 수 있어요. 그리고 그냥 지나칠 수 없는 문제에 대해서는 “There is clearly a problem and that problem is the elephant in the room. 명백한 문제이기는 한데 사람들이 아무 말을 하지 않네.”라고 표현할 수 있습니다. Now we’ll listen to this conversation for the last time.

Elephant in the room
Jason: How are you and your wife? It must be nice to be newlyweds!
Mike: Yes it is, but there is a lot of learning to do. These days, we are talking about the basic financial planning issues that are commonly encountered by newly married couples.
Jason: Great! You know, the elephant in the room between couples is often money and talking about it can be difficult.
Mike: Yes, you’re right.
Jason: But even though you guys don’t want to talk about it, it is best to do it now than later.
Mike: I agree.

So remember that the phrase ‘Elephant in the room’ is used to describe an obvious problem or an awkward situation that everyone knows about but no one talks about because it is uncomfortable or embarrassing.다음 시간에 다시 뵙겠습니다. 지금까지 ENGLISH WITH YOO에 Jennifer Yoo입니다. Bye bye!