From the
A.Word.A.Day mailing list:
- A possession unwanted by the owner but difficult to dispose of.
- A possession entailing great expense out of proportion to its usefulness or value to the owner.
- 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 with 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.