see the elephant: gain life experience, with the implication of disappointment

In the decades before the Civil War this phrase was especially common among Westerners. It could refer to remarkable or impressive sights and was often used to describe the experiences of rubes in the big city. For example, a book about Buffalo Bill Cody contains the quote, "I proceeded to New York, where I was shown 'the elephant.'" Often, seeing the elephant implied a disappointing or harrowing experience. Pioneers traveling across the prairies who lost heart and decided to turn back were said to have seen the elephant. The expression was also used to describe a soldier’s first experience of combat, a metaphor that was occasionally heard until recent times. A variation on having seen it all is to have seen the elephant and heard the owl. The origin of the phrase may stem from an old ballad in which a farmer on his way to the market is knocked down by a circus elephant trying to pass him on the narrow road. The farmer's wagon is overturned, the milk spilled, and the eggs smashed, but he consoles himself that at least he has seen the elephant. He has been treated to an amazing sight, although at a cost.