White elephant
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
Featured: |
A white elephant is a valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its usefulness.
[edit]
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.
[edit]
See also
- White elephant gift exchange
- Bridge to nowhere
- Escalation of commitment (sunk cost fallacy)
- Pork barrel
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "White elephant" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.