White elephant

White Elephant Gift Exchange

A "white elephant" is an idiom for a gift you are given that you don't really want because of its ugliness or uselessness. Often, you have to pretend to like the gift, so that you don' hurt the giver's feelings. The term derives from an old story about the kings of Siam (now known as Thailand) who gave gifts of rare white elephants (yes, the actual animals) to royal relatives whom the kings did not particularly like, in order to ruin the recipients with the cost of the animal's upkeep. Everyone had to pretend to be honored to receive a white elephant, but no one really wanted one. Today, white elephant parties are held during the holidays to allow people to unload ugly or unwelcomed gifts. YOUR ASSIGNMENT: find an item in your home that no one really wants that would be appropriate for our class gift-exchange. The choice needs to be school appropriate, of corse, but the more random the object, the better. NOTE: I DO NOT want you to go out and buy something new. The whole idea is that this is an item that you want lo get rid of. Your parents' old Dire Straits CD? Perfect. An ugly figurine you won at the county fair? Bring it in. Sounds like a perfect white elephant for our class. You do, though, need to wrap your white elephant, either in actual gift wrap or just in a shopping bag so no one can see inside. No need to put any recipient's name on your gift, as all of the gifts will be given out randomly, but you need to write a thank you note.