In simple terms, P=NP means, all problems that are easy to verify (meaning answer are there given possible situations), are very difficult to solved in polynomial time. That is a very simple definition, it can't get any simpler.
P = a group of question in which various algorithm can provide answer in polynomial time
NP = a group of question for which answer can be verified in polynomial time
Polynomial Time = a time require to run your algorithm to solve the problem (a very basic definition)
Algorithm = A strict set of finite sequence or instructions to solve a problem
So it is widely believed that P ≠ NP (but not proven as of yet) meaning there are problem whose answer can easily be verified but in order to solve that answer, a solution (to compute) is not there.
So the major question this problem proposed "every problem whose solution can be verified, can also be solved?"
And that is why it should not be written P=NP (because it is not proved yet) but P versus NP, so both cases are not proven P=NP or P ≠ NP. If one is proved, the other will be eliminated itself.
Basic example:
If someone wants to built 2 towers (not actual just putting blocks) by stacking rocks of different masses but also want that those towers must have same mass / weight, one would have to put the rock of same masses together, right? But how do one thinks of a way to check which rock should have same mass or how the devision of rocks will work while building tower?
Perhaps you would divide the rocks randomly and then measure it on a scale to divide the mass, it is called a check process, you can easily verify or check the solution but can not solve it outright.
If one has 100 rocks to start with, then 2^{100-1}-1 = 630000000000000000000000000000 (Six hundred thirty octillion) ways to divide the rock to balance the mass. Which is impossible to solve for any human or computer at this time.
Funny but true: If one want to check a unique way to find a solution every day, it would take 1.3 x 10^22 (thirteen sextillion) years to compute the solution, and one would need two trillion (2,000,000,000,000) different ways of dividing the rocks every second to check all the different ways.
So even a most powerful computer or system exist today it would take 1,000,000 combination per second and requires 2,000,000 computers working since the origin of universe to test all the combinations to find the exact solution, on how a mass of those towers should be divided, if one has just 100 rocks.