White elephant  

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  1. An albino elephant.
  2. An ornament etc that is unwanted or is a financial burden; an unprofitable investment.

White Elephant Art vs. Termite Art

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A white elephant is a valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its usefulness.


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.

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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.

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