A white elephant is a possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness.
In modern usage, it is an object, building project, scheme, business venture, facility, etc., considered expensive but without use or value.
Background of white elephant
The term derives from the sacred kept by Southeast Asian monarchs in Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. To possess a them, that was regarded as a sign that the monarch reigned. 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.
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. Curse because the recipient now had an expensive-to-maintain animal. He could not give away and could not put to much practical use.
History
In the West, the term “white elephant” relating to an expensive burden that fails to meet expectations. It was first used in the 1600s and became widespread in the 1800s.
After much effort and great expense, Barnum finally acquired the animal from the King of Siam only to discover. That his they was actually dirty grey in color with a few pink spots.
The Expressions
The expressions them and “gift of a white elephants” came into common use in the middle of the nineteenth century. The phrase was attached to “white elephant sales” in the early twentieth century.
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.
In Modern time
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, shopping malls and football stadiums built for the FIFA World Cup.
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