white elephant

English

Etymology

In Siam, elephants were working animals. However, white (albino) elephants were considered sacred and therefore were not to be put to work. The owner was then left to feed the elephant but could get no work from it. It is said that the King of Siam used to make a present of a white elephant to courtiers he wanted to ruin.

Pronunciation

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Noun

A 19th-century Thai white elephant.

white elephant (plural white elephants)

1. An albino elephant.
2. (idiomatic) A possession that is unwanted or is a financial burden; an unprofitable investment.
   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 140:

     South Australia's "white elephant" was really going to prove a valuable possession after all!

   • 2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 June 2013:

     Some of the stadiums being built for the World Cup soccer tournament, scheduled for next year, have also been criticized for delays and cost overruns, and have become subjects of derision as protesters question whether they will become white elephants.

Derived terms

• white elephant sale

Translations

an albino elephant

• French: éléphant blanc (fr) m
• German: Weisser Elefant m
• Hebrew: פִּיל לָבָן (he) (pil lavan)
• Italian: elefante bianco m
• Marathi: सफेद हत्ती m (saphed hattī)
• Polish: biały słoń m
• Portuguese: elefante branco m
• Punjabi: ਸਫ਼ੈਦ ਹਾਥੀ (pa) m (safaid hāthī)
• Russian: бе́лый слон (ru) m (bélyj slon)
• Spanish: elefante blanco m
• Telugu: ఐరావతం (te) (airāvataṁ)
• Thai: ช้างเผือก (th) (cháang-pʉ̀ʉak)
• Turkish: beyaz fil

unwanted possession, financial burden, unprofitable investment

• German: nutzloser Besitz m, nutzloser Gegenstand m, finanzielle Last f, lästiger Besitz m, Fehlinvestition (de) f
• Russian: чемода́н без ру́чки (ru) m (čemodán bez rúčki) (suitcase without a handle)

See also

• boondoggle (unprofitable program)