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coals to newcastle

A pointless venture, in the sense of sending something to a place where it's made, or where they already have an abundance.

Etymology:

  • Newcastle upon Tyne was a major coal -exporting city, so sending coal there would be pointless.
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“

1935: No more coals to Newcastle, no more Hoares to Paris — attributed to King George V of the United Kingdom, but possibly a joke doing the rounds at the time.

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Submitted on September 01, 2009

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to coals to newcastle

Carry Coals to Newcastlerake over the coalshaul somebody over the coalshaul someone over the coalsrake over old coalscarry coals to newcastle

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