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 aldiboronti |
Carry coals to Newcastle |
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Posts: 8497 (01/24/02 14:06:24) |
Is this expression, meaning giving somebody an article which they have store of already, used in the US, or is there a transatlantic equivalent?
The ancients apparently used the phrase `to give apples to Alcinous` in the same sense. |
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Dr Techie |
Re: Carry coals to Newcastle | ||
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Posts: 9773 (01/24/02 14:09:41) |
It's used in the US, although I don't think it's quite as well known here as in the UK. I can't think of a domestic equivalent.
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dmadams |
Re: Carry coals to Newcastle | ||
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Posts: 3440 (01/24/02 14:29:19) |
Isn't "selling refrigerators to the Eskimos" a US equivalent?
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wordgeek |
Re: Carry coals to Newcastle | ||
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Posts: 8928 (01/24/02 14:35:40) Banned User |
Yeah. Or more commonly "selling ice to...", I think.
I've never heard the coals/Newcastle expression. Does it mean a USELESS act, or a PERSUASIVE actor? The ice expression carries the latter sense, i.e. he's such a fast talker that "he could sell ice to the Eskimos". I wonder if we need to say "...to Aleut-Americans" now? |
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dmadams |
Re: Carry coals to Newcastle | ||
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Posts: 3440 (01/24/02 14:43:43) |
In UK I've only ever heard it in reference to a useless act. So I guess the terms aren't truly equivalent.
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aldiboronti |
Re: Carry coals to Newcastle | ||
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Posts: 8497 (01/24/02 14:46:42) |
The original phrase means a completely pointless act; coal was shipped from Newcastle to London in the 18th century. You`re right, the eskimo phrase bears a different meaning.
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eliza(d) |
Taking coal to Newcastle | ||
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Posts: 544 (01/24/02 15:48:49) |
The sad fact of the matter is that it wouldn't be a useless act as much any more - all the coal mines in the area have closed down now, but the saying lives on.
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Dr Techie |
Re: Taking coal to Newcastle | ||
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Posts: 9773 (01/24/02 15:57:38) |
I considered and rejected "selling refrigerators to Eskimos", or "...shoes to snakes", because they are used to comment on a person's salesmanship or persuasive skills, not the pointlessness of the act. "Giving snow to an Eskimo" would be more nearly equivalent, but it's not a standard idiom.
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HD |
coals | ||
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Posts: 212 (01/25/02 05:45:49) |
I've heard it used quite often in both the persuasive and useless senses.
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DaveWilton |
Re: coals | ||
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Posts: 7490 (01/25/02 09:25:45) Administrator |
The difference is reflected in the verb. "Sell" is the persuasive act. "Carry" is the pointless one.
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AJM |
coals to newcastle | ||
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Posts: 4 (01/25/02 11:07:48) |
Newcastle was once a major centre of British coal-mining, so presumably there was no shortage of the stuff there.
However, I am told by a reliable source that after the surface deposits were exhausted ships were indeed chartered to carry coals to Newcastle, as it was cheaper to ship them in that to go to the expense of digging deeper to get the remaining deposits out! |
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