Cultural Depictions of Elephants - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

The elephant has entered into popular culture through various idiomatic expressions and adages.

The phrase "elephants never forget" refers to the belief that elephants have excellent memories. The variation "Women and elephants never forget an injury" originates from the 1904 book Reginald on Besetting Sins by British writer Hector Hugh Munro, better known as Saki.

This adage seems to have a basis in fact, as reported in Scientific American:

Remarkable recall power, researchers believe, is a big part of how elephants survive. Matriarch elephants, in particular, hold a store of social knowledge that their families can scarcely do without, according to research conducted on elephants at Amboseli National Park in Kenya.

"Seeing the Elephant" was a 19th century Americanism that pioneers and soldiers used to qualify new and exciting adventures that sometimes ended badly. Often used in regards to the Civil War, Mexican-American War, and the Oregon Trail. The expression white elephant refers to an expensive burden, particularly to a situation in which much has been invested with false expectations. The phrase 'white elephant sale' was sometimes used in Australia as a synonym for jumble sale. In the U.S., a White elephant gift exchange is a popular winter holiday party activity. The idiom Elephant in the room tells of an obvious truth that no one wants to discuss, alluding to the animal's size compared to a small space. Jumbo, a circus elephant, has entered the English language as a synonym for "large". Jumbo was the name of a huge elephant acquired by P. T. Barnum from the London Zoo in 1882. The name itself may have come from a West African native word for "elephant" (cf. Kongo nzamba).