Kind of meta, but wow, "get the elephant off our neck" might be the first example of mixing three metaphors together. The only mention of "neck" that I can find

Kind of meta, but wow, "get the elephant off our neck" might be the first example of mixing three metaphors together. The only mention of "neck" that I can find is in the title, and the article only mentions getting it off our "backs, which is mixed with the metaphor of "elephant in the room". The only explanation I can think of for why "neck" would be used is the "albatross around your neck" metaphor. Based on the other responses here, it sounds like the author should keep in mind that you can't get your elephant off your neck and eat it too, but maybe I shouldn't open that can of worms lest I attract some early birds.