What does a white elephant mean?

Answer 1

A white elephant is a valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its usefulness. In some Eastern countries elephants born white were considered sacred and had to be well looked after and not allowed to work. A lot of expense for no benefit. In modern terms a white elephant could be Dad's vintage car, or the countries overseas protectorates, or the family villa in far off Lalaland.

Answer 2

"White Elephant", the first single from the album Gravity the Seducer by the electronic music band Ladytron - it is also slang for something expensive that you have to keep to make people happy. Indian rulers would give a white elephant to someone they didn't really like in order to make them lose money trying to feed and care for the animal so as not to insult the ruler.

Answer 3

A white elephant is something really expensive to keep up, but which you can't get rid of. This originated during the time of the Rajahs in India, when giving someone a white elephant was a way of subtly punishing them - they had to keep the elephant and treat it well so that the Rajah didn't become offended, but elephants are very expensive to feed and take care of!

A large house can be a white elephant if you are expected to keep it in the family.
A white elephant is a valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its usefulness. In some Eastern countries elephants born white were considered sacred and had to be well looked after and not allowed to work. A lot of expense for no benefit. In modern terms a white elephant could be Dad's vintage car, or the countries overseas protectorates, or the family villa in far off Lalaland.

Answer 4

Someone who buys a white elephant has bought a possession that is useless or troublesome. For instance, after buying the property, the new owner discovered he had bought a white elephant. The renovation alone would cost almost the original house price, with the probability of further costs in the future.

Answer 5

It means something that's rare and expensive to mantain yet you get nothin from it

Answer 6

A possession that is useless or troublesome, expensive to maintain and difficult to dispose of