Dead moose

Posted by R. Berg on October 13, 2004

In Reply to: Dead moose on the table posted by Word Camel on October 13, 2004

: : DEAD MOOSE ON THE TABLE -- "'There's a dead moose on the table.' That's what a planning facilitator once called an unpleasant topic that everyone knew was there but nobody wanted to deal with. Kentucky's dead moose now has landed squarely on the steps of the state capitol." The "dead moose" is rising health insurance costs. From an online article, "It's time to deal with the dead moose on the table" by Tom Underwood, Business Xpansion Journal, October 12, 2004.

: He must be a cousin of the 800lb gorilla.

It's a variant of "the elephant in the living room," a common phrase for any big, troubling issue that nobody wants to talk about.