Search for words

Refine search criteria

Choose an word from the list. Use the scroll bar to see all the words.
Fill up the form below to narrow your search. Use the scroll bar to see the submit button.
Speaker and interview
Word or expression

 

Locations Map

Search Results...

There are 2 examples displayed out of 2 filtered.

white elephant

Parf of speech: Noun, OED Year: 1721, OED Evaluation: fig.

A burdensome or costly objective, enterprise, or possession, esp. one that appears magnificent; a financial liability.

ExampleMeaning
I- I- I honestly still- I- at the time I-guess ah um I would've liked to have seen B-C-I just remain open. Um looking back now, how much of that was just emotion and how much do I skew the figures in my own head just to make my argument work versus listening to somebody else's, um should they have closed down the big white elephant out in Quinte-West? I'd probably still say, "Yes," and I'll say that 'til the day I die but ah ah you-know demographically now they're wanting to close a lot of schools so um it's not just B-C-I that needed to go, it's a whole lot of schools and ah Derek-Fauteiul and all the other demographers out there are ah they're right it's- it's a- a whole lot less of us out there, and there's a whole lot less of ah my gener-- or my- my kids' generation now that ah are coming up through the system.
A burdensome or costly objective, enterprise, or possession, esp. one that appears magnificent; a financial liability.
ExampleMeaning
Interviewer: And you- are most people involved with the legion hall here? Speaker 2: Not anymore. Speaker: What you call- what you call a white elephant. Interviewer: A white elephant? Speaker: Yeah. You know what that is, don't you? Interviewer: What's that? Speaker: A done-digger. Interviewer: A what? Speaker: A done-digging. Speaker 2: See this is- Interviewer: What's a done-digging, I haven't heard of that. What's- Speaker: Too many people filling their pockets out of it. Interviewer: Done-digging, uh-huh.
A burdensome or costly objective, enterprise, or possession, esp. one that appears magnificent; a financial liability.