sell coal to Newcastle

English

Etymology

First recorded in 1538.[1]

Verb

sell coal to Newcastle (third-person singular simple present sells coal to Newcastle, present participle selling coal to Newcastle, simple past and past participle sold coal to Newcastle)

  1. Alternative form of carry coals to Newcastle.
    • 2011, Jeff Ryan, Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America‎[2], Penguin, →ISBN:
      Who'd try to sell a new video game system now, in 1985? This wasn't selling coal to Newcastle, it was selling smog to Los Angeles.

References

  1. ^ Elizabeth A. Povinelli (2016) Geontologies: A Requiem to Late Liberalism‎[1], Duke University Press, →ISBN: “While the British phrase "like selling coal to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538, reminding us of the long history of coal use in Europe,”
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