What does ‘a hot potato’ mean?
To “a hot potato” means to a controversial topic no one wants to handle. A 20th-century idiom drawn from the children's game of passing a hot potato quickly to avoid being burnt.
Origin
- A 20th-century idiom drawn from the children's game of passing a hot potato quickly to avoid being burnt.
How to use it
- Common in political and workplace discussion.
- Example: Immigration policy is a political hot potato.
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18
- Definitions and origins are drawn from public-domain reference works, primarily Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), with modern usage notes clearly marked.