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Anne숑 · [YBM박]__2과 본문3 - 2

The expression "white elephant" comes from Thailand. Long ago, in Thailand, white elephants were very rare. Whenever one was found, it was given to the king. The king would then give it as a royal "gift" to someone he did not like since the beautiful animal cost a fortune to take care of. Nobody could refuse such a present, but  it could financially ruin its owner.  Moreover, it was a serious crime to mistreat a present from the king. Even riding it was not allowed,   so a white elephant was almost useless. The expression, introduced  in England in the 18th century, turned out to be useful for describing costly but useless public buildings. Today, it is used to refer to anything that might be costly and useless to someone.