hot potato

hot potato

noun
1.
Informal. a situation or issue that is difficult, unpleasant, or risky to deal with.
2.
British Informal. a baked potato.

Origin:
1840–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Hot potato is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
Collins
World English Dictionary
hot potato
 
n
slang an awkward or delicate matter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Slang Dictionary

hot potato definition


  1. n.
    a difficult problem. : I sure don't want to have to deal with that hot potato.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

hot potato

A problem so controversial and sensitive that it is risky to deal with. For example, Gun control is a political hot potato. This term, dating from the mid-1800s, alludes to the only slightly older expression drop like a hot potato, meaning "to abandon something or someone quickly" (lest one be burned). The idiom alludes to the fact that cooked potatoes retain considerable heat because they contain a lot of water.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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