coals to newcastle

listen to the pronunciation of coals to newcastle
English - English
A pointless venture, in the sense of sending something to a place where it's made, or where they already have an abundance

No more coals to Newcastle, no more Hoares to Paris.

something brought unnecessarily to an area where the thing is already plentiful (such as taking ice to Antarctica)
coals to newcastle

    Hyphenation

    coals to New·cas·tle

    Turkish pronunciation

    kōlz tı nukäsıl

    Pronunciation

    /ˈkōlz tə ˈno͞oˌkasəl/ /ˈkoʊlz tə ˈnuːˌkæsəl/

    Etymology

    () Newcastle upon Tyne (in Britain) was a major coal exporting city, so sending coal there would be pointless.
Favorites