Is a White Elephant a Gift?

A white elephant has come to mean something that you are given that you don't want. It's expensive to feed, and they're difficult or impossible to sell. So is it a gift? One of the answers feels like one of the answers would be yes. But where it gets really interesting is when you give a gift to yourself. You are giving yourself gifts all the time. The most important thing that we learn about decision making in business school is sunk costs must be ignored. If your boss says, i am giving you this gift, and you get to take on this extra work,. And it's really a gift. Both sides think it's a gift. You can say no.