Chrysti The Wordsmith: White Elephant

Greetings This is Christie the wordsmith attics basements closets and storerooms across America are full of white elephants possessions too unwieldy too unpopular or just too ugly to give away. We store them or move them with us decade after decade. But why do we call these unmanageable items. White Elephants. This phrase is often attached to an unsubstantiated Siamese legend of royal white elephants albino package arms sacred to the King of Siam. Before that country was called Thailand. Unlike their normal rank and file counterparts albino elephants were venerated and lavishly attended. Not one of these beasts could be ridden or destroyed without royal permission. When displeased with one of his subjects the Siamese king simply gave the offending person a white elephant. Though the beast was sacred. The Albino package was never received joyously because the elephant could not be ridden put to work sold or given away. The

recipient was forced to stable the creature until its natural death. The feeding and care of the white elephant brought on financial ruin by the seventeenth century the legend of the rare and ruinous albino became known in England and by the 19th century. The expression white elephant was extended metaphorically to any object that's difficult or impossible to shed. I'm Christie the wordsmith. Good day for divorce Christie the wordsmith a sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.