elephant trap

English
WOTD – 5 May 2022

Etymology
Emmanuel Frémiet, Jeune éléphant pris au piège (Young Elephant Caught in a Trap, 1878).[n 1] The term elephant trap is used figuratively to mean a trap that only inexperienced or incompetent people would fall for.

From elephant +‎ trap, alluding to the fact that a trap for an elephant needs to be quite large, and so ought to be easily seen.

Pronunciation

Noun

elephant trap (plural elephant traps) (figuratively)

  1. A trap which can easily be avoided by a competent person, and thus proves the incompetence of anybody trapped by it.
    To show he doesn’t do his fair share of work, I’ve set him an elephant trap. If he falls in he’ll look like a clown.
  2. (chess) Often in the form Elephant Trap: a faulty attempt by White to win a pawn in a popular variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined, which is generally only effective against inexperienced players.

Translations

Notes
  1. From the collection of the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France.

Further reading
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