Where did the phrase elephant in the room come from?
The elephant in the room is an American phrase with murky origins, the first reference being in 1935 to mean something obvious and incongruous. In the 1950s, the elephant in the room came to mean what it means today, something enormous that people choose to ignore because it is uncomfortable to deal with.
What does corn have to do with elephants?
“Knee high by the Fourth of July” was an expression used for many years by Midwest farmers, indicating their corn crop was expected to yield well if those “knee-high conditions” existed. These days the lyrics, “The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye,” from the song Oh, What a Beautiful Morning from the 1943 musical Oklahoma! by Rodgers and Hammerstein, is more accurate.
Elephants and mice.
Theories abound that elephants are afraid of mice because the tiny creatures nibble on their feet or can climb up into their trunks. However, there's no evidence to back up either of those claims. ... It's more likely that elephants, which have relatively poor eyesight, simply become startled when mice dart past.