Are There Any White Elephant?

You have probably heard the expression: "He has a white elephant on his hands." People say this to mean that someone has an object, usually quite expensive, that he cannot sell or get rid of.

The curious fact is that no one has over seen a white elephant! That name is sometimes given to elephants that are very light in color. In ancient times, these lighter colored, or "white", elephants were considered sacred. They were even worshipped in certain parts of the world.

They were held to be so valuable that only a king was worthy to own one! There was good reason for this. Since these white elephants had lo be treated with great care, they were provided with costly luxuries. They never worked, and they lived in special quarters. They had special servants whose job it was to care for them, and in some cases their food was served in troughs made of silver, or in special white cloths.

You can see how our expression about a while elephant came into being. H involved having something very expensive to keep up, and getting nothing in return.