Please be advised regarding White Elephant stands for what?

Question

It was asked by General manager in an interview, What do you know about white elephant...?

Answer 1

it is an adjective used to decribe some useless projects.

for example, some government planned to build an airport somewhere and wastes tons of money into it but it turns out that the airport is actually useless and non-beneficial to anyone.  

Answer 2

Legend has it that occasionally an albino elephant would be born.  This elephant would not be capable of work because it could not be exposed to the sun and elements. It would be considered sacred and would have to be cared for to the utmost - an expensive, difficult, and time-consuming endeavor. Plus elephants live an incredibly long time!

So if a raja gave someone a gift of a white elephant, they were essentially giving the person a curse to their pocket book and time - it would definitely be a gift no one would want.  Today if you give an "unwanted gift", you are giving something no one would want - and we call it a "white elephant".

That's what I have always heard anyway  :)

Answer 3

a possession that is useless or troublesome.

  ÃƒÂ¢Ã‚€Â” ORIGIN from the story that the kings of Siam gave such animals to courtiers they disliked, in order to ruin the recipient by the great expense incurred in maintaining the animal.

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/whi...

1. something costly to maintain: an expensive and often rare or valuable possession whose upkeep is a considerable financial burden

2. possession of questionable value: something with a questionable or at least very limited value

3. conspicuous failed venture: a much publicized or eagerly anticipated venture that proves to be a spectacular flop

4. discarded object: an unwanted object of possible use to somebody else ( hyphenated before a noun )

5. albino elephant: a rare albino Indian elephant regarded as sacred in parts of South and Southeast Asia

[In sense 1 and related senses < the reputed practice of the King of Siam (Thailand) of giving a white elephant to troublesome courtiers, who would be ruined by the cost of keeping it]

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/d...

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/white_elep...

1. a possession unwanted by the owner but difficult to dispose of: Our Victorian bric-a-brac and furniture were white elephants.

2. a possession entailing great expense out of proportion to its usefulness or value to the owner: When he bought the mansion he didn't know it was going to be such a white elephant.

3. an abnormally whitish or pale elephant, usually found in Thailand; an albino elephant.

http://dictionary.infoplease.com/white+e...

Answer 4

Legend has it that in a land where a white elephant is considered to be sacred  (and therefore cannot be disposed of), a person who wanted to really really inconvenience someone would give that person a white elephant as a gift.

Since the white elephant could not be sold, given away, used as a draft animal, set loose, or killed and had to be cared for, it became a GIANT inconvenience and monetary drain on the recipient.

The term 'white elephant' has become a euphemism for something that has no real use but cannot be disposed.

Answer 5

I believe it is an illegal drug.

Answer 6

In Hindu mythology:=In a Hindu scripture called the Hastyayurveda [Skt. hastya is elephant] there is the description of an ancient yearly rain festival celebrating the Lotus goddess, Lakshmi.  An elephant was painted white with sandalwood paste, decorated with flowers and paraded through the town.It is believed that when this divine animal is duly invoked, it can conjure the winged elephants --the clouds of the atmosphere -- to visit the earth bearing the accompanying rainfalls.  

In Buddhist Sutras:=One of the Seven Jewels of Royal Power, the elephant stands for the boundless powers of a Buddha:  miraculous aspiration, analysis, intention, and effort.

There is another Religion belief:=Mayadevi, wife of King Shudhodana, had an auspicious dream.  A young white elephant holding a lotus flower in its trunk entered her body by her right side.  The dream was interpreted to mean that she had conceived a son.