Por: Diogenes Uceda. P.Eng, MSc, PhD.

"It is a cardinal error to theorize before having any data". Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930, British writer and doctor)

Introduction

The term "white elephant", in English, Spanish (elefante blanco), Portuguese (elefante branco) and French (éléphant blanc), is attributed to any property that has a maintenance cost greater than the benefits it provides, or to those properties that benefit others, but that only cause trouble to the rest.

The term, according to the English Oxford Dictionary, is defined as a useless or annoying property, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to remove. Traditionally, in the Hindu culture, albino elephants were a symbol of royal power, as well as prestige. It is believed that the expression "white elephant" comes from a story in which the kings of Siam (now Thailand), had the habit of giving white elephants (albino) to the courtiers who disliked them to ruin them financially, since these elephants were large and expensive to maintain. To this extent, these animals became a great trouble for their owners because its cost was very expensive compared to the benefits brought.