Coals to Newcastle

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Selling, carrying, bringing, or taking coal(s) to Newcastle is an idiom of British origin describing a pointless action.[1] It refers to the fact that, historically, the economy of Newcastle upon Tyne in north-eastern England was heavily dependent on the distribution and sale of coal and therefore any attempt to sell coal to Newcastle would be foolhardy as supply would be greater there than anywhere else in Britain.[1] Similarly, Newcastle, New South Wales (named after the British city) has one of the largest coal ports in the world, and hence it would also be meaningless to ship coals there.

History

Timothy Dexter literally sent coals to Newcastle

The phrase "to carry coals to Newcastle" is first documented in North America in 1679 in William Fitzhugh's letters ("But relating farther to you would be carrying Coals to new Castle")

morbid humor
in response to the fire.

In 1661–1662, John Graunt, in his work on the Bills of Mortality for London (published by the Royal Society 1665), uses the phrase in his introductory expression of gratitude to Lord John Roberts, the Lord Privy Seal: "... I should (according to our English Proverb) thereby carry Coals to Newcastle ...", and suggests a much earlier provenance.

miners' strike which had crippled local production.[3][4]

More prosaically, the

sulphur coal was imported by Alcan from Russia in 2004 for their local aluminium smelting
plant.

Although the coal industry of Newcastle upon Tyne is now practically non-existent, the expression can still be used today with a degree of literal accuracy, since the harbour of

coal deposits were discovered there and exploited by early European settlers[6]) has succeeded its UK namesake by becoming the largest exporter of coal in the modern world.[7]

Contemporary use

With the increasing onset of

globalisation, parallels in other industries occur, and the idiom is now frequently used by the media when reporting business ventures whose success may initially appear just as unlikely. It has been referred to in coverage of the export to India of saffron from Saudi Arabia and chicken tikka masala from the United Kingdom,[8][9] the sale of Scottish pizzas to Italy,[10] and the production of manga versions of William Shakespeare from Cambridge for Japan.[11]

Even though its original geographic origin may have been displaced, this cliché continues to be used.[12]

See also

References

Look up carry coals to Newcastle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  1. ^ a b "Newcastle upon Tyne", Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. ^ Bartlett Jere Whiting Early American Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases 1977 - Page 76 "To carry Coals to Newcastle 1679 Fitzhugh Letters 67: But relating farther to you would be carrying Coals to new Castle. 1768 Habersham Letters 68: [He] asked, if I wanted to carry Coals"
  3. ^ Knapp, Samuel L. (1858). Life of Lord Timothy Dexter: Embracing sketches of the eccentric characters that composed his associates, including "Dexter's Pickle for the knowing ones". Boston: J.E. Tilton and Company. Archived from the original on 2 December 2007.
  4. ISBN 0-8329-0123-7
    .
  5. ^ "U.S. Beats The Price Of Coal In Newcastle", William Flannery, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1990
  6. ^ "Newcastle". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 February 2004. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  7. ^ Minister For Ports And Waterways; Minister For Regulatory Reform; Minister For Small Business (6 August 2008). "New Trade Record for Newcastle Port" (PDF). Media releases. Newcastle Port Corporation. Retrieved 1 November 2008. {{cite web}}: |author3= has generic name (help)
  8. ^ "The Next Asian Journey: Shadows of Old Araby", Time, vol.158, no.7/8, August 20, 2001
  9. ^ "Chicken tikka masala: Spice and easy does it", BBC News, April 20, 2001
  10. ^ {Dead Link} "Selling coals to Newcastle? How about pizzas to Italy? Cosmo Pasta Co. to sell gluten-free pizzas in Italy"Nation's Restaurant News, July 7, 2003
  11. Cambridge Evening News
    , May 2, 2007
  12. ^ Quinion, Michael. "Coals to Newcastle". World Wide Words. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
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