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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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.”
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”
What does the phrase mean?
It means to pointlessly take something to a place that already has it in abundance.
Carrying water to the sea is the Dutch version.
Of course the Dutch version is about water
Taking guns to America?
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.
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Bringing sand to Sahara
Taking weed to BC (Canada)
Ice to Eskimos in the eastern us. Yes, I know Eskimo isn’t preferred but that didn’t stop Nana.
Same, or “he could sell igloos to eskimos” to describe an especially skilled salesman.
I’ve heard “It’s like selling ice to Eskimos” used in the context of the OP
Yeah, I’ve only ever heard it in the “he could sell…” formulation.
Guess we’re getting pretty far from the “things to place” idea, but there’s always “preaching to the choir”
Bring weed to Oregon.
Germany:
- carry owls to Athens
Regional:
- bring beer to Munich
- carry peat to the bog
- carry water to the Rhine
- drive snails to Metz
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.kinda makes doing a pointless exercise sound like a good thing.
Does it really?
To me it sounds like something that would be hard or impossible and stupid to even try. Kinda like taking coal to Newcastle is pretty stupid and you will lose money doing it.
Hexbear has some awesome emojis, lol. I haven’t seen the flag burning one yet.
Genocidal behaviour to Israel.
Brutal authoritarianism and lies to China.
Crazy fucking shit to Russia.
Edit: To anyone downvoting me: we know who you work for. Scum.
Taking sand to the beach.
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.
What??
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.
Edit: I now see that you thought the town of Newcastle was the fast food chain White Castle lol. I did wonder why you were going on about grills!
Did you mean White Castle?
Oh shit I got confused…
In my defense, I’ve never heard of Newcastle until today.
That is the funniest response I’ve seen all week.
Holy shit 😬
