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Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 16:01:00 -0800 (PST)
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Subject: A.Word.A.Day--white elephant
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white elephant (hwyt EL-uh-fent) noun

   1. A possession unwanted by the owner but difficult to dispose of.

   2. A possession entailing great expense out of proportion to its
      usefulness or value to the owner.

   3. An abnormally whitish or pale elephant, usually found in Thailand;
      an albino elephant.

[From the perhaps apocryphal tale that the King of Siam would award a
disagreeable courtier a white elephant, the upkeep of which would ruin the
courtier.]

   "Now an orchestra opening a new hall has reason to pray, solemnly and at
   length, that it will not be saddled with a white elephant with mediocre
   acoustics."
   Allan Kozinn, A Venerable Concert Hall That's the Belle of the Ball,
   The New York Times, Sep 30, 2000.

This week's theme: animal words that are used figuratively.

............................................................................
It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be
reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
-Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/white_elephant.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/white_elephant.ram