Imagine a bull standing in a shop. The shop sells china – plates, cups, saucers, bowls, tea-pots. There are shelves full of delicate china ornaments. The bull is not violent or aggressive. But every time he moves or tries to turn round, he bumps into the shelves, and a pile of china crashes to the ground.

　　If someone is clumsy – if they knock something over every time they go into a room, or trip over the carpet, or collide with the TV, we say, “He’s like a bull in a china shop.” We can say this also about someone who is clumsy in their relations with other people – some who always says the wrong thing, someone who is tactless and offends other people without meaning to, someone who always causes confusion and misunderstanding – “He’s like a bull in a china shop”.

　　Next, the horse. Imagine that it is 100 years ago, when horses pulled carts through the streets, and there were no cars. Here is a horse and cart. What is at the front? The horse, of course! And what is behind? The cart. That is the right way round. If the cart was in front and the horse behind – well, that would be all wrong.

　　There are some people who always misunderstand things. They do the least important things first, and leave the most important things until later. They always seem to get things the wrong way round. They “put the cart before the horse”.

　　And finally, the elephant. Imagine you are at a reception, perhaps at a foreign Embassy. There is a big room, full of people. The people are talking noisily. They are drinking cocktails and eating cocktail snacks. In the corner of the room is a large elephant. Everyone in the room knows that the elephant is there. But they take no notice of it. They don’t even want to talk about the elephant. It might be impolite to talk about it. It might cause problems.

　　We can say that something, or some subject, is “the elephant in the room”. It means that this thing, or this subject, is big and important. Everyone knows it is big and important. But no-one wants to talk about it.

　　It is in fact a very modern expression. I first heard someone say “the elephant in the room” only a few months ago. Now everyone is saying it. “The elephant in the room is the weakness of the US dollar” or “The elephant in the room is the fact that he split up with his wife last week.” Yes, Listen to English will keep you to keep up to date with all the latest English expressions. Have a good week, and remember never to put your elephant before the horse in a china shop. Or something like that.