coals to Newcastle en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From the importance of Newcastle upon Tyne to the English coal industry.
Meanings
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(idiomatic, plural, plural-only) A pointless venture, in the sense of sending something to a place where it is made, or where they already have an abundance.
No more coals to Newcastle, no more Hoares to Paris.
1935, attributed to King George V of the United Kingdom but possibly a then-circulating joke (see notes at Wikiquote)Honestly, sir. Your wife? Assertion training? Coals to Newcastle, surely.
1998 May 6, Douglas Watkinson et al., “Death in Disguise”, in Midsomer Murders: