Is a 'white elephant' actually an animal? скачать в хорошем качестве

Is a 'white elephant' actually an animal?

Is a 'white elephant' actually an animal? Or does it mean something else? Let The English Nut take you on a journey -- to Thailand, America and other locales in which the story of the white elephant unfolds. Episode #57: White elephant: A good thing or a bad thing? Have you ever received useless gifts which you did not know what to do with? If you get married in India, you get multiple 51-piece plastic storage container sets. Public speakers like me get gigantic vases as ‘a token of appreciation’. And, if you have friends who go on seaside vacations without you, you are gifted peculiar peacocks made of seashells. What do you do with all this stuff you have no use or room for? Some Westerners play a party game called the White Elephant Gift Exchange—allegedly popularised around 1828 by Ezra Cornell, philanthropist and founder of Western Union. In this game, players recycle useless gifts, passing them on to a friend. It is done for the sake of amusement. The fun only lasts for the duration of the party because you still go home with a useless gift, albeit a different one. The prevalent theory of the origin of the term ‘white elephant’ is that the King of Siam—the old name for Thailand—used to gift white elephants to courtiers he was displeased with. These were actually rare albino elephants which were not quite white, but of a pinkish hue. You could not put the animal to work as it was considered sacred. Nor could you get rid of it, as that would further annoy the king. With the high cost of the animal’s upkeep, the courtiers were financially ruined. Thus, ‘white elephant’ came to mean an impractical gift that is hard to maintain or dispose of. The phrase was in common use by the 19th century. It was likely popularised by P. T. Barnum, the American showman who founded the Barnum & Bailey Circus. He spent a lot of money to acquire Toung Taloung, the animal he described as the ‘Sacred White Elephant of Burma’. This animal turned out to have a dirty grey complexion with a smattering of pink, disappointing its buyer. Today, a white elephant does not only mean a useless gift. It refers to any possession or endeavour whose cost of purchase or maintenance is disproportionate to its utility. It could refer to an expensive building project—such as a sports facility made for a one-time international event—or a business venture that appears magnificent but does not live up to expectations. One of the early references in English to the idiomatic 'white elephant' is in an essay titled Of false Honour, public and private published in the London Journal in 1721. It was later published in a book called Cato’s Letters. After describing a bloody war fought by the King of Pegu against the King of Siam—to acquire a white elephant the latter had refused to sell him—the essay has this to say: ‘Honour and Victory are generally no more than white Elephants, and for white Elephants the most destructive wars have been fought.’ From this essay, one can surmise that a pale pachyderm was hardly seen as a burden in these Asian societies. On the contrary, it was so coveted that wars were fought over it. The high value that people put on it was partly due to the rarity of the white or albino elephant in nature. Not only did it signal the power, prestige and wealth of its owner, it was considered holy as well. In Buddhist lore, it was said that a white elephant appeared before Mahamaya, Lord Buddha’s mother, the night he was born. White elephants were kept by the rulers of Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. So important was the elephant to them that they incorporated ‘Lord of the White Elephant’ in their titles. The monarchs of Burma and Thailand keep white elephants to this day. It is interesting to note that ‘white elephant’ is an imperfect translation of ‘chang pheuak’, the Thai name for this creature. ‘Chang’ is elephant. But 'pheuak' means ‘strange-coloured’ and not white. Given the actual colour of the albino elephant, ‘pink pachyderm’ might be a better way to describe it. Pink or white, I wonder if the reverence for this pale-complexioned animal has anything to do with the fairness obsession among Asians. I’m The English Nut. Bye for now. * #TheEnglishNut #TEN #IndianEnglish #DesiEnglish #LanguageMemes #Video #English #Vocabulary #Words #Sarcasm #Humour #FunnyEnglish #LearnEnglish #GrammarNazi #Humor #LOL #EnglishLesson #EnglishTips #Tutorial #Advanced #Grammar #SpeakEnglish #meaning #etymology #education #library #BritishCouncil #BritishCouncilIndia #Video #EnglishLanguageFacts #BritishEnglish #idioms #pronunciation #mispronunciation #MAEnglish #ImproveEnglish #FunFacts #EnglishFun