Definition of hot potato in US English:
hot potato
nounˌhɑt pəˈteɪdoʊˌhät pəˈtādō
informal A controversial issue or situation that is awkward or unpleasant to deal with.
dog registration has become a political hot potato
Example sentencesExamples
- New Environment Minister Martin Cullen has this as one of his first major hot potato issues to deal with.
- If government decides that it's too much of a political hot potato to try to remove you from that land, that's their choice.
- It is a political hot potato most party leaders do not wish to go near, but McLetchie wants a legal clampdown on ‘chancers who are trying to reap the public’.
- But because of this lack of judgment it is still a political hot potato a week later and his image as a schemer who will do anything for self-advancement has been reinforced.
- Slavery reparation is one of the political hot potatoes being juggled by Western nations at the UN World Conference against Racism in South Africa.
- The other parties use it as a political hot potato.
- The issue has been a hot potato on my radio show this week.
- The issue has become a political hot potato for Bloomberg, who faces a tough battle for re-election next year.
- But it was on the political hot potato of Scottish broadcasting that Mr Davies dropped the biggest bombshell of the night.
- The play deals with the hot potatoes of race, madness and power and dazzles with a story as funny as it is provocative.