60:
115:). Because the animals were considered sacred and laws protected them from labor, receiving a gift of a white elephant from a monarch was simultaneously a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because the animal was sacred and a sign of the monarch's favour, and a curse because the recipient now had an animal that was expensive to maintain, could not be given away, and could not be put to much practical use.
48:
91:. To possess a white elephant was regarded—and is still regarded in Thailand and Burma—as a sign that the monarch reigned with justice and power, and that the kingdom was blessed with peace and prosperity. The opulence expected of anyone who owned a beast of such stature was great. Monarchs often exemplified their possession of white elephants in their formal titles (e.g.,
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148:
In modern usage, the term now often refers in addition to an extremely expensive building project that fails to deliver on its function or becomes very costly to maintain. Examples include prestigious but uneconomic infrastructure projects such as airports, dams, bridges, shopping malls and football
32:
is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, construction project, scheme, business venture, facility, etc.
131:
The expressions "white elephant" and "gift of a white elephant" came into common use in the middle of the nineteenth century. The phrase was attached to "white elephant swaps" and "white elephant sales" in the early twentieth century. Many church bazaars held
127:
that he billed as the "Sacred White
Elephant of Burma". After much effort and great expense, Barnum finally acquired the animal from the King of Siam only to discover that his "white elephant" was actually dirty grey in color with a few pink spots.
118:
In the West, the term "white elephant", relating to an expensive burden that fails to meet expectations, was first used in the 17th century and became widespread in the 19th century. According to one source it was popularized following
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Contains a long chapter on how
Burmese generals tried to use the white elephant to consolidate power, also looks at the cosmological origins of the animal.
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would end up as a multibillion-yen white elephant,. In
Singapore, paper cutouts of white elephants were placed next to the completed but unopened
686:
140:, generating profit from the phenomenon that "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and the term has continued to be used in this context.
266:
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baseball team has used a white elephant as a symbol and usually its main or alternate logo since 1902, originally in sarcastic defiance of
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considered expensive but without equivalent utility or value relative to its capital (acquisition) and/or operational (maintenance) costs.
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came to regard Uganda as a white elephant when internal conflict made administration of the territory impossible.
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The Sultan and the
Mermaid Queen: Surprising Asian People, Places, and Things That Go Bump in the Night
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The term has also been applied to outdated or under-performing military projects like the U.S. Navy's
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Rail transport projects are also sometimes deemed white elephants. In Japan, it was feared that the
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197:, the term "white elephant" means workers who have little or no use, but cannot be dismissed.
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609:"State's Longest Bridge Nears Completion, But Budget Cuts May Limit Army's Ability to Use It"
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Idiom for impractical possessions that are expensive to maintain but cannot be disposed of
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in 2005 to protest its non-opening. (The station eventually opened the following year.)
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920:(Reprint ed.). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 91–112.
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763:"Residents Bring Up 'White Elephant' Buangkok MRT During Minister's Visit"
328:
88:
80:
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Illustrated
Directory of Warships of the World: From 1860 to the Present
704:"World Cup: Are South Africa's stadiums white elephants? – The Sentinel"
406:"Two-and-a-half Idioms – the History and Etymology of 'White Elephants'"
205:
194:
841:
Morison, Samuel Loring; Morison, Samuel Eliot; Polmar, Norman (2005).
157:
179:'s 1902 characterization of the new team as a "white elephant". The
917:
Soul of the Tiger: Searching for Nature's
Answers in Southeast Asia
76:
58:
46:
437:"Two-and-a-Half More Idioms – "White Elephants" and Yankee Swaps"
183:
on the outskirts of Dubai has also been named a white elephant.
84:
546:"Spain's white elephants – how country's airports lie empty"
515:"The 10 greatest white elephants | David Shariatmadari"
940:
Contains a chapter on the white elephant in
Southeast Asia.
693:– Guardian Article regarding Stadio delle Alpi March 2006.
353:
The
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Second Edition
380:
Elephant Story: Jumbo and P.T. Barnum Under the Big Top
953:. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet. pp. 69–164.
200:
A former Polish astronomical observatory built in the
816:"After 'Boris Island': 10 other airport follies"
912:"Chapter 9: Ganesh the Potbellied Elephant God"
8:
313:"A Kingship by Merit and Cosmic Investiture"
383:. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 110.
96:
635:"Russian bridge of trouble opens to world"
869:. Agence France-Presse. 14 January 2011.
654:"New South China Mall: Tour A Ghost Mall"
441:Early Sports 'n' Pop-Culture History Blog
410:Early Sports 'n' Pop-Culture History Blog
269:. oxforddictionaries.com. Archived from
731:"Tokyo's New Waterfront Transit System"
488:"White elephants and worthwhile causes"
267:"Home : Oxford English Dictionary"
258:
513:Shariatmadari, David (18 July 2013).
136:" where donors could unload unwanted
123:'s experience with an elephant named
7:
743:from the original on 7 December 2022
710:from the original on 8 November 2010
494:from the original on 23 January 2021
447:from the original on 8 November 2020
435:Brown, Peter Jensen (28 June 2014).
404:Brown, Peter Jensen (23 June 2014).
311:Leider, Jacques P. (December 2011).
301:. Thai Elephant Conservation Center.
75:kept by Southeast Asian monarchs in
736:. Japan Rail and Transport Review.
706:. Tucsonsentinel.com. 7 July 2010.
615:from the original on 4 October 2017
588:from the original on 2 October 2011
556:from the original on 25 August 2012
873:from the original on 17 March 2011
867:"Looking more like white elephant"
796:from the original on 18 April 2021
14:
822:from the original on 30 June 2022
664:from the original on 9 March 2013
525:from the original on 28 July 2022
416:from the original on 1 March 2021
71:The term derives from the sacred
1011:Metaphors referring to elephants
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769:from the original on 3 July 2022
765:. SafeTrolley. 7 November 2020.
533:– via www.theguardian.com.
181:Al Maktoum International Airport
544:Govan, Fiona (5 October 2011).
21:White elephant (disambiguation)
1:
892:de:Weißer Elefant#Redewendung
652:Taylor, Adam (5 March 2013).
607:Tim Ellis (8 November 2013).
356:. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
111:and the third monarch of the
729:Iwata, Kazuaki (June 1998).
222:White elephant gift exchange
502:– via news.bbc.co.uk.
65:British East Africa Company
1032:
790:"The Elephant in the Room"
227:Hills Like White Elephants
106:Lord of the White Elephant
40:
18:
945:Paul Spencer Sochaczewski
908:Paul Spencer Sochaczewski
792:. Baseball Hall of Fame.
576:"Dams as white elephants"
350:Ammer, Christine (2013).
845:. ABC-CLIO. p. 85.
317:Journal of Burma Studies
237:Escalation of commitment
51:A white elephant at the
1006:English-language idioms
292:"Royal Elephant Stable"
212:due to its appearance.
208:) in 1938 is nicknamed
43:White elephant (animal)
639:The New Zealand Herald
473:4 October 2017 at the
68:
56:
689:6 August 2007 at the
377:Harding, Les (1999).
329:10.1353/jbs.2011.0012
62:
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37:Historical background
1016:Public choice theory
992:at Wikimedia Commons
906:Jeffrey A. McNeely;
467:White Elephant Rules
297:9 March 2021 at the
202:Carpathian Mountains
162:Buangkok MRT station
134:white elephant sales
19:For other uses, see
550:The Daily Telegraph
239:(sunk cost fallacy)
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988:Media related to
232:Bridge to nowhere
173:Oakland Athletics
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121:P. T. Barnum
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826:12 February
243:Pork barrel
177:John McGraw
138:bric-à-brac
93:Hsinbyushin
1000:Categories
552:. London.
390:0786406321
254:References
248:Abul-Abbas
154:Yurikamome
149:stadiums.
41:See also:
969:259252939
936:299810414
560:7 January
529:4 January
337:153995925
53:Amarapura
947:(2008).
910:(1995).
877:17 April
871:Archived
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767:Archived
738:Archived
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708:Archived
687:Archived
668:14 March
662:Archived
619:5 August
613:Archived
611:. KUAC.
592:14 April
583:Archived
554:Archived
523:Archived
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471:Archived
445:Archived
414:Archived
295:Archived
277:25 April
216:See also
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83:(Siam),
81:Thailand
420:25 June
206:Ukraine
195:Austria
164:on the
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189:Alaska
158:Odaiba
741:(PDF)
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333:S2CID
323:(2).
193:. In
77:Burma
965:OCLC
955:ISBN
932:OCLC
922:ISBN
879:2011
847:ISBN
828:2022
802:2021
775:2022
749:2023
716:2011
670:2013
621:2014
594:2011
562:2013
531:2017
500:2020
453:2014
422:2014
385:ISBN
358:ISBN
279:2013
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87:and
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63:The
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