white elephant gift meaning
The person had to accept and care for the animal while not being able to use itt for labour as it would upset the king. A White elephant gift exchange which is also known as the Yankee Swap or Dirty Santa is a well-known Christmas event where people compete to walk away with the most exquisite gift.
White Elephant What Does The Popular Term White Elephant Mean 7esl White Elephant Meaning Idioms And Phrases Idioms
In an attempt to make the game more.
. A white elephant - Idioms by The Free Dictionary. The term comes from a story about the king of Siam who was said to have given an albino elephant considered sacred to a member of the court whom he disliked knowing that taking care of the animal would exhaust the persons fortune. While other types of gifts have this kind of vibe white elephant gifts take.
Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary. White Elephant gift is that something unusual you purchased or were given that has value to someone somewhere. The idea was that the cost and time to take care of an elephant would ruin the life of the person receiving it.
One story has it that the kings of Siam the old name for Thailand gave white elephants as gifts to those they wished to ruin hoping that the cost of maintaining the voracious but sacred. The term white elephant refers to an extravagant but impractical gift that cannot be easily disposed of. The term white elephant in white elephant gift exchange probably came from the tradition of the King of Siam present-day Thailand giving rare albino white elephants to anyone that displeased him.
But across most of North America the party game where participants trade and steal presents is known as a white elephant gift exchange. Youve never used but cant throw it away. Hills are like white elephants for Jig because they carry ambivalent evocations of the child within her like a white elephant an unwanted gift.
It is wrapped or rewrapped and given away White elephant gifts could include dime store perfumes last years calendar diapers when you dont have kids an ashtray but you dont smoke etc. The point of a white elephant gift exchange is to entertain. The goal isnt to walk away with a valuable gift that you will use in daily life though that often happens.
An expensive item that is troublesome or useless. What does a white elephant expression mean. A white elephant is a gift that turns out to be more like a burden.
Roots of gift exchange The tradition has roots in a legend where suposedly kings in Asia would gift a burdensome present that happened to be white or more of a pink elephant to those that they disliked. The phrase is said to come from the historic practice of the King of Siam now Thailand giving rare albino elephants to courtiers who had displeased him so that they might be ruined by the animals upkeep costs. It is an allusion to a practice once used by the King of Siam.
The term white elephant has been used since at least the. The current meaning of. The main objective of this game is to interchange gifts with partygoers as they expect to take home a luxurious gift.
White elephant gift exchanges are lighthearted events that emphasize the fun of selecting a gift according to the paper its wrapped in or the shape and size of the package.
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