hot potato en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
- (uncountable) A child's game in which players pass a ball or other item between them, with the object of avoiding being left holding the item when time expires.
-
(countable, idiomatic) An unwanted problem that is awkward or delicate.
The “lame duck” Johnson Administration, in its final fortnight in office, grappled last week with a diplomatic hot potato in the form of the latest Soviet proposal for a “just and lasting” Middle East peace settlement.
1969 January 12, Benjamin Welles, “A Hot Potato for Nixon”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:How do you handle the work of a woman out on leave, yet not lose a valuable employee down the road? At the same time, companies know this is a hot potato, and they have to do something.
1984 June 14, Carol Lawson, quoting Phyllis Silverman, “Parental Leave: a ‘Hot Potato’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:Full connectivity returned 72 hours later, but the issue has become a hot potato in the US.
2021 August 3, Ed Augustin, Daniel Montero, “Why the internet in Cuba has become a US political hot potato”, in The Guardian:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| hot potatoes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
drop like a hot potato · hottie potatie · hot-potato routing
Relateds
too hot to handle · third rail · hot button
Synonyms
Translations (19)
cmn 燙手山芋 /烫手山芋 (awkward or delicate problem) · es patata caliente (child's game) · fr patate chaude (awkward or delicate problem) · it patata calda (child's game) · cmn 擊鼓傳花 /击鼓传花 (child's game) · no varm potet (awkward or delicate problem) · fr patate chaude (child's game) · es patata caliente (awkward or delicate problem) · id bola panas (awkward or delicate problem) · it patata bollente (awkward or delicate problem) · fi kuuma peruna (awkward or delicate problem) · nl heet hangijzer (awkward or delicate problem) · fi kuuma peruna (child's game) · pl delikatna sprawa (awkward or delicate problem) · nn varm potet (awkward or delicate problem) · ko 뜨거운 감자 (awkward or delicate problem) · ru карто́шка (child's game) · de heißes Eisen (awkward or delicate problem) · he תַּפּוּחַ אֲדָמָה לוֹהֵט (awkward or delicate problem)