‘800-pound gorilla’ is an American English expression for a person or organization so powerful that it can act without regard to the rights of others or the law. The phrase is rooted in a joke riddle: ‘Where does an 800-lb. gorilla sit?’ The answer: ‘Anywhere it wants to.’
The term can describe a powerful geopolitical and military force, or, in business, a powerful corporate entity that has such a large majority percentage of whatever market they compete within that they can use that strength to crush would-be competitors. The metaphor has been mixed, on occasion, with the metaphor of the elephant in the room (an obvious truth that is going unaddressed).
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