A white elephant is an unwanted, useless, and troublesome possession or item that is too expensive or too much work to maintain and which is not worth the effort.
“White elephant” is sometimes confused with the elephant in the room to become the white elephant in the room. It is quite possible for these idioms to merge sensibly, however. An unwanted item, as a white elephant, could also be an item no one wants to talk about, as the elephant in the room.
Origin of “White Elephant”
This idiom comes from an ancient custom in Thailand, then Siam. White albino elephants were considered sacred and could only be owned by the king. It was forbidden, as well, to slaughter them or make them do work. If the king was unhappy with one of his subjects, he would give them a white elephant. Such a gift, coming from the king, could not be given away! The cost of feeding and caring for the elephant was immense and would surely ruin the subject. These stories were known in England as early as the 1600s but began to be used idiomatically during the 1800s.
While the story of Siamese kings was known in Britain as early as the 1600s, the phrase began appearing regularly as a figure of speech in English and American literature during the mid-1800s. An unverified local anecdote occasionally credits a young Ezra Cornell with using the phrase during social gatherings in Ithaca around 1828, but printed records show the idiom gaining widespread popularity across American and British newspapers throughout the 1830s and 1840s. Being that Ezra Cornell was, at this time, a 21-year old carpenter/mechanic living in Ithaca, the anecdote is almost surely apocryphal.
What is a White Elephant Gift Exchange or Party?
Beyond its general definition as a burdensome possession, a white elephant is also famous for inspiring a popular holiday party game known as a White Elephant Gift Exchange (sometimes called a Yankee Swap or Dirty Santa).
How a White Elephant Party Works:
- The Goal: Guests bring a wrapped, inexpensive, amusing, or useless item to place in a common pool.
- The Mechanics: Participants draw numbers to determine the order. The first player unwraps a gift from the pile. Subsequent players can either “steal” an already unwrapped gift from someone else or open a new one from the table.
- The Spirit: Unlike a standard Secret Santa, where people give thoughtful gifts, a White Elephant party revolves around eccentric, impractical, or funny items that fit the idiom’s original definition: gifts that are more troublesome or quirky than truly useful.
Common Examples of White Elephant Gifts:
- Over-the-top, gaudy home decor or weird novelty kitchen tools.
- Unusual or funny clothing (e.g., bizarre holiday sweaters).
- Re-gifted items that the giver genuinely didn’t want or need.
What about a “White Elephant Sale”? Similarly, a white elephant sale is a community rummage sale or church bazaar where people donate unwanted, secondhand household items. Just like the gift exchange, it relies on the idea that one person’s burdensome clutter might be a quirky bargain for someone else.
Why “White Elephant” is So Frequently Misused in Media
Outside of holiday “White Elephant” gift exchanges, the idiom is rarely heard in modern film and television. When screenwriters do attempt to use it, they frequently confuse it with the elephant in the room, giving birth to the mashed-up phrase “the white elephant in the room” already discussed.
Because modern society rarely deals with literal, un-refusable and grand gifts, writers often treat “white elephant” as merely a synonym for a giant, awkward problem rather than its true etymological meaning: an expensive, unwanted asset that costs more to maintain than it is worth. When used correctly in cinema, such as in adaptations of Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants, it represents a heavy, unmanageable burden hiding behind a flashy exterior.
Video Presentation: White Elephant, Elephant in the Room, & 800-Pound Gorilla
Sentence Examples
“The beach house is a white elephant that has been sitting for years. The roof needs work and I don’t know what else. I don’t know why you insisted we buy it.”
“I would never want my own swimming pool. They’re just big white elephants. And, to top it off, all the relatives would constantly want to visit so they could use it.”
“In terms of white elephant gifts, I think giving someone a pet is a big faux pas. Do you realize how much responsibility you’re handing someone?”
“We’ve been in the new building for two years now. What about the white elephant in the room? We haven’t even though about what we’re going to do with the old property.”