whack-a-mole

== English == === Alternative forms === Whac-A-Mole, whac-a-mole === Etymology === From whack +‎ a +‎ mole (“a small, burrowing, insect-eating mammal of the family Talpidae”), from the arcade game Whac-A-Mole which involves quickly and repeatedly hitting the heads of mechanical moles with a mallet as they pop up from holes. The name of the arcade game was coined in 1977 when it was first sold in the United States; the original game released in Japan in 1975 was called モグラ退治 (Mogura Taiji, literally “Mole Extermination”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈwæk.əˌməʊl/; (without the wine–whine merger) /ˈʍæk.əˌməʊl/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈwæk.əˌmoʊl/; (without the wine–whine merger) /ˈʍæk.əˌmoʊl/ === Noun === whack-a-mole (countable and uncountable, plural whack-a-moles) (idiomatic, chiefly Canada, US) A situation where problems or tasks keep reappearing repeatedly. (idiomatic, chiefly Canada, US) A strategy of addressing recurrent, unpredictable problems in a piecemeal, temporary way at their point of emergence. ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === Whac-A-Mole on Wikipedia.Wikipedia