A white elephant

(Finn and Feifei on a visit to the zoo)

Feifei:	Hi. I'm Feifei and joining us here today in the zoo to present The English We Speak is Finn.
Finn:	Hi.
Feifei:	What's the matter, Finn? You sound worried. The zoo is a place of fun.
Finn:	Yes, and I love animals too. But I don't know what I'm going to do with that white elephant.
Feifei:	That one over there?
Finn:	No. The one my uncle is giving me.
Feifei:	Your uncle is giving you an elephant?
Finn:	Yeah, he is moving to South Africa and he's giving away some of his things.
Feifei:	And are you ready to take care of an elephant?
Finn:	That's the problem. I'm not. It is beautiful ...
Feifei:	Oh yes, I'm sure it is!
Finn:	... and it is powerful ...
Feifei:	Yes, very powerful!
Finn:	But it needs too much petrol!
Feifei:	Petrol?!
Finn:	Yes. Old sports cars need a lot of petrol, you know.
Feifei:	That's a relief. You're talking about a car.
Finn:	Of course! I wasn't talking about an actual elephant.
Feifei:	The elephant sounds relieved too.
Finn:	Yes, he does. In English, when you call something a 'white elephant' you mean that it's large, costs a lot of money to keep and has no useful purpose.
Feifei:	A sports car is useful.
Finn:	Not for me. I am a cyclist and I love my bicycle. Listen to some examples of how to use this expression.
	I've paid a lot of money for this posh designer dress that I never use. It is a white elephant!
	The new airport is a white elephant! It's got four runways and it's equipped with the latest technology, but not many people visit this region.
Feifei:	Oh. So a 'white elephant' is something that might look good but in reality it's a waste of space.
Finn:	Yes, it is.
Feifei:	Unlike these elephants we have here in the zoo. They seem to be very popular.
Finn:	Shall we go and have a look, Feifei?
Feifei:	Indeed and they're grey, not white!
Finn:	Bye.
Feifei:	Bye.