YOU SAID:
They were ignoring the elephant in the room.
INTO JAPANESE
彼らは部屋の象を無視していました。
BACK INTO ENGLISH
They ignored the elephants in the room.
INTO JAPANESE
彼らは部屋の象を無視しました。
BACK INTO ENGLISH
They ignored the room elephant.
INTO JAPANESE
彼らは部屋の象を無視しました。
BACK INTO ENGLISH
They ignored the room elephant.
That didn't even make that much sense in English.