A Hot Potato

🗓️ Idiom: A Hot Potato (n)

💬 Meaning

• A subject or situation that is difficult or dangerous to deal with.
• Something people want to avoid because it causes problems or arguments.

🧠 Example Sentences

• The issue of employee layoffs became a hot potato during the meeting.
• Discussing company scandals in public is always a hot potato for managers.
• Handling data privacy laws can be a hot potato for international companies.

🏛️ Origin

This idiom comes from the idea of holding a very hot potato, which is hard to keep because it burns your hands. It began in the 19th century as a way to describe problems people want to avoid quickly.

📝 Practice Exercises

1. Fill in the blank:
The new tax policy became a ________ that no politician wanted to discuss.

2. Multiple choice:
What does “a hot potato” mean?
a) A tasty food
b) A difficult problem people avoid
c) A popular topic

3. Change the sentence using “a hot potato”:
“Everyone avoided talking about the company’s financial losses.”

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