Timeline for Term for Gift that Turns out to be a Burden
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
23 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 26, 2017 at 0:45 | comment | added | Tim Sparkles | @Monty Harder: the gift itself is not literally a white elephant, but the expression describing such a gift is literally "white elephant". | |
| Sep 25, 2017 at 8:44 | comment | added | Rui Marques | Just a curiosity as it is a bit off topic here. In current Portuguese we also use these terms with meanings similar to described here. White Elephant (Elefante Branco) for expensive projects with not a lot of function and "Poisoned Gift" (Presente Envenenado) with a meaning similar to Poisoned Chalice as described in another answer here. | |
| Sep 24, 2017 at 8:20 | comment | added | 1006a | This has always been my understanding of the original meaning of the phrase (in the US). Both "white elephant sales" and "white elephant parties" are common around me, and the common element is that they are a way of getting rid of items that are useless to you but that you can't bring yourself to throw away, often because they were gifts. | |
| Sep 23, 2017 at 8:47 | comment | added | Dominic Cronin | Current usage of "white elephant" gives only the sense that the thing is redundant, and not that it was a well-intentioned gift. | |
| Sep 22, 2017 at 19:55 | comment | added | RDFozz | Note that, per the description of the origin of the term, the giving of a white elephant was not something the giver thought of as being nice to do for the recipient, but rather something that would explicitly ruin them. | |
| Sep 22, 2017 at 16:42 | comment | added | MCMastery | If I heard the phrase used this way I'd be confused and think you meant a white elephant gift party (I've never heard it used this way actually). Probably a regional thing | |
| Sep 22, 2017 at 16:26 | comment | added | developerwjk | Never heard white elephant used this way. | |
| Sep 22, 2017 at 16:16 | comment | added | The Photon | @Jules, In America we might still call that a boondoggle, if the reason it failed is because it was managed to deliver economic advantage to the workers or contractors working on it, rather than to achieve its original objectives. | |
| Sep 22, 2017 at 8:11 | comment | added | Steve Bennett | @eyeballfrog That's the standard usage around here (Australia). Example: abc.net.au/news/2017-07-12/… afr.com/news/economy/… canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/… theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/david-uren-economics/… | |
| Sep 22, 2017 at 1:21 | comment | added | beldaz | I've always used this term as a metaphor for some mythical special creature that people might go to right to go great effort and expense to hunt down as a trophy, but as yet has never been caught. Hence NHS example from @Jules is a good example, since many people have identified such a project as a good idea and have tried to implement it, but it's always cost too much and never been achieved. | |
| Sep 22, 2017 at 0:59 | comment | added | Jules | E.g. the now scrapped NHS medical record centralization project was a white elephant, but I would never have described it as a boondoggle due to the fact that it was (as far as I can see) begun in good faith with an intent only to reduce operating costs and improve services by reducing waste caused by duplicated effort. | |
| Sep 22, 2017 at 0:57 | comment | added | Jules | @erickson - as far as my understanding of "boondoggle" goes, which isn't commonly used in Britain, there's a difference in purpose: AIUI a boondoggle is an expensive project deliberately chosen to give economic advantage to a certain group of people, whereas a white elephant is a project that was probably originally begun with good intentions, but due to bureaucracy, corruption, incompetence (or all 3) has become overly expensive and/or unfit for purpose.... | |
| Sep 21, 2017 at 20:00 | comment | added | erickson | The divergence from the original meaning described here, to the definition given by @aaa90210 appears to be British. American English would use "boondoggle" instead. | |
| Sep 21, 2017 at 19:25 | comment | added | Monty Harder | Even if this answer were correct, it's still not literally a white elephant, unless someone has given you an actual elephant that is white in color. | |
| Sep 21, 2017 at 19:17 | comment | added | aaa90210 | @JeremyFriesner jeez, lets do google search and see what we come up with: google.com/… | |
| Sep 21, 2017 at 18:24 | comment | added | Jeremy Friesner | @aaa90210 I think the word you are thinking of is "boondoggle"; at least I've never heard "white elephant" used to mean that. | |
| Sep 21, 2017 at 15:03 | comment | added | Michael Richardson | Currant usage I have heard and used is in relation to a white elephant party, where attendees are to bring a gift. These gifts are generally low cost and chosen for comedic or mortifying effect, as well as a general uselessness. This usage is directly descended from the gifting of White Elephants. whiteelephantrules.com | |
| Sep 21, 2017 at 11:48 | comment | added | Qwerky | A white elephant describes something that was a waste and implies purchasing it was a mistake, but not necessarily that the thing is a burden. | |
| Sep 21, 2017 at 7:55 | comment | added | Flater | @aaa90210: You're correct that "white elephant" is currently used for failed projects. Following the etymological origins, the story of the king who gives white elephants, "white elephant" fits the OP's "gift that turns out to be a burden" to a tee. And it fits with a failed project for the same reason: You initially thought the project was going to benefit you, but after you're committed you realize that it's going to cost you. | |
| Sep 21, 2017 at 4:26 | comment | added | eyeballfrog | @aaa90210 Please cite literally any usage of "white elephant" in that context. | |
| Sep 21, 2017 at 3:59 | comment | added | aaa90210 | No it isn't. That is failed, expensive project, usually infrastructure and often accompanied by corruption and cronyism. | |
| Sep 20, 2017 at 23:29 | history | edited | choster | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 405 characters in body
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| Sep 20, 2017 at 23:22 | history | answered | choster | CC BY-SA 3.0 |