To bury one's head in the sand

Idiom: to bury one's head in the sand; used as a verb

First Example:

Teacher: Joe, can we talk about your test?   

Joe: I know. I did terribly.  But I'll do better next time.

Teacher: Isn't this the third one you've failed?                              

Joe: Yeah, so?

Teacher: Well, maybe you should stop burying your head in the sand and admit you need help.  If you fail another test, you won't pass the class.

Joe: Oh wow. Yeah, I guess I do need to do something.

Teacher: Why don't you go down to the tutoring center tomorrow? I hear they have some really great math tutors that should be able to help you.

Meaning: The idiom "to bury (one's) head in the sand" is used when someone is ignoring a bad situation. The idiom is based on the idea that ostriches bury their heads in order to avoid danger; however, this is actually a myth as ostriches do not hide in this way. Here is another example:

Tricia: I finally paid off my credit card.    

Val: That's awesome!  How did you do it?

Tricia: Well, for a long time I just buried my head in the sand about how much debt I had, but one day I finally added it up and realized I had $20,000 in credit card debt.

Val: Wow! That's a lot!

Tricia: Yeah. Once I finally admitted how bad it was, I quit using my cards and paid off as much as a I could each month.  It took me a couple years, and it was really tight, but I'm so glad I did it.

Val: Congratulations

Meaning: In this example, Tricia uses the expression to explain the she was ignoring the amount of credit card debt she had. 

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