Sort of blend: "the 900 pound elephant in the room"

[Laurence Horn]

At 7:56 AM -0500 1/24/07, Charles Doyle wrote:
>My 2003 paper to which Gerald refers, a sequel to a more extensive
>study of the proverbial phrase "see the elephant," briefly discusses
>the sayings "see the elephant whole"; "You can't swallow an elephant
>whole" (or "How do you eat an elephant?"/"One bite at a time");
>"Don't think about an elephant"; and "the elephant in the room."  (I
>don't know why I got interested in "elephant" sayings; I've never in
>my life voted Republican!).
>
Ironically, linguist and metaphorician George Lakoff wrote a recent
book entitled _Don't Think of an Elephant_ addressing the trope
represented by the title. Lakoff was an erstwhile advisor to Howard
Dean for the latter's ill-fated presidential campaign.  The subtitle
of Lakoff's book was _Know Your Values and Frame the Debate: An
Essential Guide for Progressives_, so very much non-Republican in
motivation.

LH

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