I was talking with a friend who mentioned “taking tea to India”. It made me wonder what the equivalents are around the world. “Taking coals to Newcastle” is the UK’s.
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“Selling sand in sahara.”
I’m in the midlands and never heard that phrase but I have heard taking ice to the eskimos, which might be offensive now.
Apparently “owls to Athens” is common across Europe? “Wood to the forest” is a variant in the US
Is “Owls to Athens” a reference to Athena?
Yes and no. It’s a circular relationship. The proverb is known to have already existed in Ancient Greece. The pantheon (the version that existed before Xerxes torched the place) was apparently inhabited by tons of owls, especially it’s roof construction. Since the pantheon was a temple to Athena, people assumed Athena held Owls holy and the owl became linked to Athena, and since Athena was the goddess of wisdom, Owls became a symbol of wisdom. Since the city and her patron goddess are related by name, Athens is linked to owls as well.
But for the meaning: It’s to be taken literally. There were many owls in Athens, so they’d not exactly need any more.
Originally it must be, but the animal itself became associated with the city too (for example their coinage almost always had an owl on it)
I don’t know. My coworker just said that owls are a symbol of wisdom, and Athens (historically) is the center of wisdom.
It is known in Germany, “Eulen nach Athen tragen”. I’ve heard the explanation that the currency of Athens in antiquity had owl on one side.
Kind of an odd saying, I’m 100% sure Newcastle uses gas for their grill and not a single fast food place uses charcoal grills. If you brought coal to Newcastle, they would have no use for such a thing.
Did you mean White Castle?
Oh shit I got confused…
In my defense, I’ve never heard of Newcastle until today.
Holy shit 😬
That is the funniest response I’ve seen all week.
It’s an archaic saying but that doesn’t mean that the meaning has been lost.
Almost the entire industrial revolution was coal powered and the most common fuel for heating homes was coal. Coal used to be an extremely popular and useful commodity.
What??
Bring weed to Oregon.
We also use “taking coals to Newcastle” here in the Midwestern U.S. (Something about being descended from former British colonies…) But I’ve heard plenty of riffs on that idea, like, “bringing corn to Iowa.”
Bringing juggalos to SXSW
In Poland it is „nosić drewno do lasu” (bring wood to the forest). Similar, but a bit different (pointless not just by being pointless, but by being impossible): „nie zawrócisz kijem Wisły” – ‘you won’t turn Vistula (our biggest river) with a stick’.
Same in Czech. Nosit dříví do lesa.
For the second one we have “z hovna bič neupleteš” = you can’t weave a whip out of a shit.
We have the same about a shit whip – „z gówna bata nie ukręcisz”
Bringing even more
flags to :estonia-cool: especially in the last 2 years. The flags and colours are bloody everywhere and not one has been removed.Throwing gas on the fire
I don’t think that’s what that’s supposed to mean.
I think “selling ice to Eskimos” is the American equivalent. Naturally, the
version of this phrase: 1) involves an exonym that’s a bit offensive 2) kinda makes doing a pointless exercise sound like a good thing.Hexbear has some awesome emojis, lol. I haven’t seen the flag burning one yet.
Coals to Newcastle works well in Australia too. (I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard that in practice though.)
Same, never heard it used here, and I can’t think of any other Australian equivalents.
Bauxite is the obvious one. Bringing bauxite to Australia. How could you forget about bauxite?
Australia also has a Newcastle (in New South Wales, north of Sydney). Not sure if it has/had coal mines, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. Australians using the phrase may be referring to their Newcastle, and even unaware of the English one.
Australia also has a Newcastle (in New South Wales, north of Sydney)
Yes, that’s why I mentioned it. When I said “works well in Australia”, what I meant was “in theory, the same logic you used to apply it to Newcastle-upon-Tyne could be used to apply it to Newcastle, NSW”, and not that it actually is used in Australia (I know I’ve never heard it).
Not sure if it has/had coal mines
Not just does it, but it is in fact home to Australia’s largest coal-shipping port. In fact, Port of Newcastle is, according to Wikipedia, the world’s largest coal terminal.
Carrying water to the sea is the Dutch version.
Seems like that should actually be quite a useful task in the Netherlands considering all the polders!
Of course the Dutch version is about water
I feel like the closest in the deep south is just “preaching to the choir”. A redundant task which ignores a probably better path or explaining something to someone who doesn’t need it explained to them.
Taking guns to America?
