Hot Potato Idiom: Meaning, Examples and Usage

Meaning 1：touchy issue (Hot Potato)

Hot Potato 🔊

/hɑːt pəˈteɪtoʊ/

A difficult issue that no one wants to deal with and people try to pass to others.

Hot potato idiom illustration: people passing a steaming potato

touchy issue 🔊

➕

/ˈtʌtʃi ˈɪʃuː/

A highly controversial or sensitive problem that people try to avoid dealing with, often passed from one person to another.

📁 Category：Social Economy 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

Hot + potato: literal hot potato passed quickly, metaphor for a difficult issue.

💡 Mnemonic

Imagine a steaming potato burning your hands — you'd pass it fast. That's a hot potato problem.

📖 Example

The office redecoration budget became a hot potato that everyone tried to avoid discussing. 🔊 The office redecoration budget became a hot potato that everyone tried to avoid discussing.

🔗 Collocations

pass the hot potato – to shift a difficult problem to someone else

drop the hot potato – to abandon a controversial issue

hot potato issue – a contentious topic

🔄 Synonyms

controversial issue (n.) – A subject that causes public disagreement or discussion.

touchy subject (n.) – A topic that is sensitive and may cause offense or discomfort.

sticky wicket (n.) – A difficult or awkward situation (informal, British).

🚫 Antonyms

non-issue (n.) – A matter that is not important or controversial.

simple matter (n.) – An easy and straightforward problem.

🌱 Derivatives

hot-potato (adj.) – Controversial or sensitive; describing an issue that people avoid.

📖 Cultural Story

Originating in 19th-century America, 'hot potato' first meant a literal hot potato. By the 1900s, it became a metaphor for a controversial issue no one wants to handle.