A word to use sarcastically for “An invention which is amazing but not useful in any way”
Let's say that two people are talking about an invention which is amazing in that it is beautiful or proves an impossible concept but hardly has any use. How can one refer to it in a sarcastic manner, as if saying that the invention was the need of the day ?
Sample Dialogue -
Thawed out caveman : I must say the science of your times is quite
amazing. I never quite could have imagined something like this.
Modern day scientist : Yes...Modern technology has grown by leaps and
bounds...We have X, Y and Z
Thawed out caveman : And then there is cloning
Modern day scientist : Yes, truly one of our "_________"
technologies in this day and age of overpopulation.
single-word-requests
add a comment |
Let's say that two people are talking about an invention which is amazing in that it is beautiful or proves an impossible concept but hardly has any use. How can one refer to it in a sarcastic manner, as if saying that the invention was the need of the day ?
Sample Dialogue -
Thawed out caveman : I must say the science of your times is quite
amazing. I never quite could have imagined something like this.
Modern day scientist : Yes...Modern technology has grown by leaps and
bounds...We have X, Y and Z
Thawed out caveman : And then there is cloning
Modern day scientist : Yes, truly one of our "_________"
technologies in this day and age of overpopulation.
single-word-requests
2
'chocolate teapot' and 'solution looking for a problem' come to mind, but don't fit your sentence.
– Robin Betts
2 days ago
If you hadn’t mandated sarcasm, you could have said one of our most pointless technologies...
– k1eran
2 days ago
1
with sarcasm you get to pick a word with the exact opposite meaning: useful, practical, important ...
– Jim
2 days ago
1
Sorry, but voting to close as too broad and/or POB
– Jim
2 days ago
First off, cloning is extremely useful. Soon, you will be able to go to the dentist and get a tooth cloned. Setting that aside, a classic sarcastic idiom is "we need that like a fish needs a bicycle." The idiom has an interesting history.
– Phil Sweet
2 days ago
add a comment |
Let's say that two people are talking about an invention which is amazing in that it is beautiful or proves an impossible concept but hardly has any use. How can one refer to it in a sarcastic manner, as if saying that the invention was the need of the day ?
Sample Dialogue -
Thawed out caveman : I must say the science of your times is quite
amazing. I never quite could have imagined something like this.
Modern day scientist : Yes...Modern technology has grown by leaps and
bounds...We have X, Y and Z
Thawed out caveman : And then there is cloning
Modern day scientist : Yes, truly one of our "_________"
technologies in this day and age of overpopulation.
single-word-requests
Let's say that two people are talking about an invention which is amazing in that it is beautiful or proves an impossible concept but hardly has any use. How can one refer to it in a sarcastic manner, as if saying that the invention was the need of the day ?
Sample Dialogue -
Thawed out caveman : I must say the science of your times is quite
amazing. I never quite could have imagined something like this.
Modern day scientist : Yes...Modern technology has grown by leaps and
bounds...We have X, Y and Z
Thawed out caveman : And then there is cloning
Modern day scientist : Yes, truly one of our "_________"
technologies in this day and age of overpopulation.
single-word-requests
single-word-requests
edited 2 days ago
user96551
asked 2 days ago
user96551user96551
672621
672621
2
'chocolate teapot' and 'solution looking for a problem' come to mind, but don't fit your sentence.
– Robin Betts
2 days ago
If you hadn’t mandated sarcasm, you could have said one of our most pointless technologies...
– k1eran
2 days ago
1
with sarcasm you get to pick a word with the exact opposite meaning: useful, practical, important ...
– Jim
2 days ago
1
Sorry, but voting to close as too broad and/or POB
– Jim
2 days ago
First off, cloning is extremely useful. Soon, you will be able to go to the dentist and get a tooth cloned. Setting that aside, a classic sarcastic idiom is "we need that like a fish needs a bicycle." The idiom has an interesting history.
– Phil Sweet
2 days ago
add a comment |
2
'chocolate teapot' and 'solution looking for a problem' come to mind, but don't fit your sentence.
– Robin Betts
2 days ago
If you hadn’t mandated sarcasm, you could have said one of our most pointless technologies...
– k1eran
2 days ago
1
with sarcasm you get to pick a word with the exact opposite meaning: useful, practical, important ...
– Jim
2 days ago
1
Sorry, but voting to close as too broad and/or POB
– Jim
2 days ago
First off, cloning is extremely useful. Soon, you will be able to go to the dentist and get a tooth cloned. Setting that aside, a classic sarcastic idiom is "we need that like a fish needs a bicycle." The idiom has an interesting history.
– Phil Sweet
2 days ago
2
2
'chocolate teapot' and 'solution looking for a problem' come to mind, but don't fit your sentence.
– Robin Betts
2 days ago
'chocolate teapot' and 'solution looking for a problem' come to mind, but don't fit your sentence.
– Robin Betts
2 days ago
If you hadn’t mandated sarcasm, you could have said one of our most pointless technologies...
– k1eran
2 days ago
If you hadn’t mandated sarcasm, you could have said one of our most pointless technologies...
– k1eran
2 days ago
1
1
with sarcasm you get to pick a word with the exact opposite meaning: useful, practical, important ...
– Jim
2 days ago
with sarcasm you get to pick a word with the exact opposite meaning: useful, practical, important ...
– Jim
2 days ago
1
1
Sorry, but voting to close as too broad and/or POB
– Jim
2 days ago
Sorry, but voting to close as too broad and/or POB
– Jim
2 days ago
First off, cloning is extremely useful. Soon, you will be able to go to the dentist and get a tooth cloned. Setting that aside, a classic sarcastic idiom is "we need that like a fish needs a bicycle." The idiom has an interesting history.
– Phil Sweet
2 days ago
First off, cloning is extremely useful. Soon, you will be able to go to the dentist and get a tooth cloned. Setting that aside, a classic sarcastic idiom is "we need that like a fish needs a bicycle." The idiom has an interesting history.
– Phil Sweet
2 days ago
add a comment |
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
Invaluable has the potential for sarcasm. Most dictionaries will record its primary and most commonly understood meaning:
: valuable beyond estimation : priceless
However, note two things. First, In- is a prefix that negates what follows. In conventional use, invaluable means that it can't be valued. Yet a second meaning of the word also exists: it has no value. From the Oxford English Dictionary:
- Without value, valueless.
Here is an example from a 19th century play John Bull by George Colman:
I flattered myself I might not be altogether invaluable to your Ladyship.
People have played with this word to create sarcasm: sure, the superficial reading is that they're beyond value, but something about the tone and context suggests that they're not valued. A couple of other uses that strike a sarcastic tone:
@ disney, thank you for making me, as well as all of my PhotoPass coworkers and friends, feel replaceable and invaluable. ... Saying I’m invaluable is sarcasm.
They say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Yeah, right. Assuming "they" are the same experts who tell us "Look before you leap" and "He who hesitates is lost", then I think we all know how incisive and invaluable their advice is. What would we do without it?
So your jaded modern scientist would be engaging in wordplay while subtly hinting at their true disposition towards cloning.
Any utterance in English can be sarcastic, especially any form of praise. This sheds no light and breaks no ground..
– Robusto
2 days ago
@Robusto Yes, any expression may be sarcastic, but not every expression has sarcasm reinforced by the word meaning two opposite things. To give an example, valuable does not allow for the same wordplay because valuable never means useless. Invaluable sometimes does mean useless. (Also, if any utterance may truly be sarcastic, and if the qualities of a word can never help with that in a punning way, then the question itself doesn't work, since no single word will do what the original poster is asking.)
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
If "no single word will do what the original poster is asking" then why suggest one with an extrinsic qualifier? That's not what this site is about.
– Robusto
2 days ago
I don't understand your comment, but you are entitled to your opinion.
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
add a comment |
You might go for straight out sarcasm with productive.
Yes, truly one of our most productive technologies in this day and age of overpopulation.
On the one hand, it is used to describe something good:
2 achieving good results
a productive partnership
Politeness is usually more productive than confrontation.
Macmillan
On the otherhand, it can just mean making something:
3 FORMAL causing or producing something
Macmillan
add a comment |
How about "most precious" or "most darling"? Or "sterling"? These words are all a little over the top — you know right away that if a technology is truly wonderful, you would never call it "darling."
add a comment |
This is what white elephant means.
white elephant n
1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless. The term comes from a story about the king of Siam, who was said to have given an albino elephant, considered sacred, to a member of the court whom he disliked, knowing that taking care of the animal would exhaust the person's fortune. At first, Eve was excited to inherit the farm, but it soon proved to be a white elephant she couldn't afford.
—The Free Dictionary Online
1
I think white elephant emphasises the cost aspects, where the question emphasises the uselessness of the item.
– k1eran
2 days ago
@k1eran: "1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless." I think if you read to the end of the definition you'll find what you're looking for.
– Robusto
2 days ago
2
I think white elephant is close but not quite right here. The OP’s question makes no mention that the item is expensive, and I think that aspect is core to the white elephant idiom.
– k1eran
2 days ago
1
You are entitled to your opinion.
– Robusto
2 days ago
add a comment |
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4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Invaluable has the potential for sarcasm. Most dictionaries will record its primary and most commonly understood meaning:
: valuable beyond estimation : priceless
However, note two things. First, In- is a prefix that negates what follows. In conventional use, invaluable means that it can't be valued. Yet a second meaning of the word also exists: it has no value. From the Oxford English Dictionary:
- Without value, valueless.
Here is an example from a 19th century play John Bull by George Colman:
I flattered myself I might not be altogether invaluable to your Ladyship.
People have played with this word to create sarcasm: sure, the superficial reading is that they're beyond value, but something about the tone and context suggests that they're not valued. A couple of other uses that strike a sarcastic tone:
@ disney, thank you for making me, as well as all of my PhotoPass coworkers and friends, feel replaceable and invaluable. ... Saying I’m invaluable is sarcasm.
They say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Yeah, right. Assuming "they" are the same experts who tell us "Look before you leap" and "He who hesitates is lost", then I think we all know how incisive and invaluable their advice is. What would we do without it?
So your jaded modern scientist would be engaging in wordplay while subtly hinting at their true disposition towards cloning.
Any utterance in English can be sarcastic, especially any form of praise. This sheds no light and breaks no ground..
– Robusto
2 days ago
@Robusto Yes, any expression may be sarcastic, but not every expression has sarcasm reinforced by the word meaning two opposite things. To give an example, valuable does not allow for the same wordplay because valuable never means useless. Invaluable sometimes does mean useless. (Also, if any utterance may truly be sarcastic, and if the qualities of a word can never help with that in a punning way, then the question itself doesn't work, since no single word will do what the original poster is asking.)
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
If "no single word will do what the original poster is asking" then why suggest one with an extrinsic qualifier? That's not what this site is about.
– Robusto
2 days ago
I don't understand your comment, but you are entitled to your opinion.
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
add a comment |
Invaluable has the potential for sarcasm. Most dictionaries will record its primary and most commonly understood meaning:
: valuable beyond estimation : priceless
However, note two things. First, In- is a prefix that negates what follows. In conventional use, invaluable means that it can't be valued. Yet a second meaning of the word also exists: it has no value. From the Oxford English Dictionary:
- Without value, valueless.
Here is an example from a 19th century play John Bull by George Colman:
I flattered myself I might not be altogether invaluable to your Ladyship.
People have played with this word to create sarcasm: sure, the superficial reading is that they're beyond value, but something about the tone and context suggests that they're not valued. A couple of other uses that strike a sarcastic tone:
@ disney, thank you for making me, as well as all of my PhotoPass coworkers and friends, feel replaceable and invaluable. ... Saying I’m invaluable is sarcasm.
They say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Yeah, right. Assuming "they" are the same experts who tell us "Look before you leap" and "He who hesitates is lost", then I think we all know how incisive and invaluable their advice is. What would we do without it?
So your jaded modern scientist would be engaging in wordplay while subtly hinting at their true disposition towards cloning.
Any utterance in English can be sarcastic, especially any form of praise. This sheds no light and breaks no ground..
– Robusto
2 days ago
@Robusto Yes, any expression may be sarcastic, but not every expression has sarcasm reinforced by the word meaning two opposite things. To give an example, valuable does not allow for the same wordplay because valuable never means useless. Invaluable sometimes does mean useless. (Also, if any utterance may truly be sarcastic, and if the qualities of a word can never help with that in a punning way, then the question itself doesn't work, since no single word will do what the original poster is asking.)
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
If "no single word will do what the original poster is asking" then why suggest one with an extrinsic qualifier? That's not what this site is about.
– Robusto
2 days ago
I don't understand your comment, but you are entitled to your opinion.
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
add a comment |
Invaluable has the potential for sarcasm. Most dictionaries will record its primary and most commonly understood meaning:
: valuable beyond estimation : priceless
However, note two things. First, In- is a prefix that negates what follows. In conventional use, invaluable means that it can't be valued. Yet a second meaning of the word also exists: it has no value. From the Oxford English Dictionary:
- Without value, valueless.
Here is an example from a 19th century play John Bull by George Colman:
I flattered myself I might not be altogether invaluable to your Ladyship.
People have played with this word to create sarcasm: sure, the superficial reading is that they're beyond value, but something about the tone and context suggests that they're not valued. A couple of other uses that strike a sarcastic tone:
@ disney, thank you for making me, as well as all of my PhotoPass coworkers and friends, feel replaceable and invaluable. ... Saying I’m invaluable is sarcasm.
They say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Yeah, right. Assuming "they" are the same experts who tell us "Look before you leap" and "He who hesitates is lost", then I think we all know how incisive and invaluable their advice is. What would we do without it?
So your jaded modern scientist would be engaging in wordplay while subtly hinting at their true disposition towards cloning.
Invaluable has the potential for sarcasm. Most dictionaries will record its primary and most commonly understood meaning:
: valuable beyond estimation : priceless
However, note two things. First, In- is a prefix that negates what follows. In conventional use, invaluable means that it can't be valued. Yet a second meaning of the word also exists: it has no value. From the Oxford English Dictionary:
- Without value, valueless.
Here is an example from a 19th century play John Bull by George Colman:
I flattered myself I might not be altogether invaluable to your Ladyship.
People have played with this word to create sarcasm: sure, the superficial reading is that they're beyond value, but something about the tone and context suggests that they're not valued. A couple of other uses that strike a sarcastic tone:
@ disney, thank you for making me, as well as all of my PhotoPass coworkers and friends, feel replaceable and invaluable. ... Saying I’m invaluable is sarcasm.
They say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Yeah, right. Assuming "they" are the same experts who tell us "Look before you leap" and "He who hesitates is lost", then I think we all know how incisive and invaluable their advice is. What would we do without it?
So your jaded modern scientist would be engaging in wordplay while subtly hinting at their true disposition towards cloning.
answered 2 days ago
TaliesinMerlinTaliesinMerlin
2,559419
2,559419
Any utterance in English can be sarcastic, especially any form of praise. This sheds no light and breaks no ground..
– Robusto
2 days ago
@Robusto Yes, any expression may be sarcastic, but not every expression has sarcasm reinforced by the word meaning two opposite things. To give an example, valuable does not allow for the same wordplay because valuable never means useless. Invaluable sometimes does mean useless. (Also, if any utterance may truly be sarcastic, and if the qualities of a word can never help with that in a punning way, then the question itself doesn't work, since no single word will do what the original poster is asking.)
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
If "no single word will do what the original poster is asking" then why suggest one with an extrinsic qualifier? That's not what this site is about.
– Robusto
2 days ago
I don't understand your comment, but you are entitled to your opinion.
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
add a comment |
Any utterance in English can be sarcastic, especially any form of praise. This sheds no light and breaks no ground..
– Robusto
2 days ago
@Robusto Yes, any expression may be sarcastic, but not every expression has sarcasm reinforced by the word meaning two opposite things. To give an example, valuable does not allow for the same wordplay because valuable never means useless. Invaluable sometimes does mean useless. (Also, if any utterance may truly be sarcastic, and if the qualities of a word can never help with that in a punning way, then the question itself doesn't work, since no single word will do what the original poster is asking.)
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
If "no single word will do what the original poster is asking" then why suggest one with an extrinsic qualifier? That's not what this site is about.
– Robusto
2 days ago
I don't understand your comment, but you are entitled to your opinion.
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
Any utterance in English can be sarcastic, especially any form of praise. This sheds no light and breaks no ground..
– Robusto
2 days ago
Any utterance in English can be sarcastic, especially any form of praise. This sheds no light and breaks no ground..
– Robusto
2 days ago
@Robusto Yes, any expression may be sarcastic, but not every expression has sarcasm reinforced by the word meaning two opposite things. To give an example, valuable does not allow for the same wordplay because valuable never means useless. Invaluable sometimes does mean useless. (Also, if any utterance may truly be sarcastic, and if the qualities of a word can never help with that in a punning way, then the question itself doesn't work, since no single word will do what the original poster is asking.)
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
@Robusto Yes, any expression may be sarcastic, but not every expression has sarcasm reinforced by the word meaning two opposite things. To give an example, valuable does not allow for the same wordplay because valuable never means useless. Invaluable sometimes does mean useless. (Also, if any utterance may truly be sarcastic, and if the qualities of a word can never help with that in a punning way, then the question itself doesn't work, since no single word will do what the original poster is asking.)
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
If "no single word will do what the original poster is asking" then why suggest one with an extrinsic qualifier? That's not what this site is about.
– Robusto
2 days ago
If "no single word will do what the original poster is asking" then why suggest one with an extrinsic qualifier? That's not what this site is about.
– Robusto
2 days ago
I don't understand your comment, but you are entitled to your opinion.
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
I don't understand your comment, but you are entitled to your opinion.
– TaliesinMerlin
2 days ago
add a comment |
You might go for straight out sarcasm with productive.
Yes, truly one of our most productive technologies in this day and age of overpopulation.
On the one hand, it is used to describe something good:
2 achieving good results
a productive partnership
Politeness is usually more productive than confrontation.
Macmillan
On the otherhand, it can just mean making something:
3 FORMAL causing or producing something
Macmillan
add a comment |
You might go for straight out sarcasm with productive.
Yes, truly one of our most productive technologies in this day and age of overpopulation.
On the one hand, it is used to describe something good:
2 achieving good results
a productive partnership
Politeness is usually more productive than confrontation.
Macmillan
On the otherhand, it can just mean making something:
3 FORMAL causing or producing something
Macmillan
add a comment |
You might go for straight out sarcasm with productive.
Yes, truly one of our most productive technologies in this day and age of overpopulation.
On the one hand, it is used to describe something good:
2 achieving good results
a productive partnership
Politeness is usually more productive than confrontation.
Macmillan
On the otherhand, it can just mean making something:
3 FORMAL causing or producing something
Macmillan
You might go for straight out sarcasm with productive.
Yes, truly one of our most productive technologies in this day and age of overpopulation.
On the one hand, it is used to describe something good:
2 achieving good results
a productive partnership
Politeness is usually more productive than confrontation.
Macmillan
On the otherhand, it can just mean making something:
3 FORMAL causing or producing something
Macmillan
answered 2 days ago
jxhjxh
9,1281547
9,1281547
add a comment |
add a comment |
How about "most precious" or "most darling"? Or "sterling"? These words are all a little over the top — you know right away that if a technology is truly wonderful, you would never call it "darling."
add a comment |
How about "most precious" or "most darling"? Or "sterling"? These words are all a little over the top — you know right away that if a technology is truly wonderful, you would never call it "darling."
add a comment |
How about "most precious" or "most darling"? Or "sterling"? These words are all a little over the top — you know right away that if a technology is truly wonderful, you would never call it "darling."
How about "most precious" or "most darling"? Or "sterling"? These words are all a little over the top — you know right away that if a technology is truly wonderful, you would never call it "darling."
answered 2 days ago
debbiesymdebbiesym
4122517
4122517
add a comment |
add a comment |
This is what white elephant means.
white elephant n
1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless. The term comes from a story about the king of Siam, who was said to have given an albino elephant, considered sacred, to a member of the court whom he disliked, knowing that taking care of the animal would exhaust the person's fortune. At first, Eve was excited to inherit the farm, but it soon proved to be a white elephant she couldn't afford.
—The Free Dictionary Online
1
I think white elephant emphasises the cost aspects, where the question emphasises the uselessness of the item.
– k1eran
2 days ago
@k1eran: "1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless." I think if you read to the end of the definition you'll find what you're looking for.
– Robusto
2 days ago
2
I think white elephant is close but not quite right here. The OP’s question makes no mention that the item is expensive, and I think that aspect is core to the white elephant idiom.
– k1eran
2 days ago
1
You are entitled to your opinion.
– Robusto
2 days ago
add a comment |
This is what white elephant means.
white elephant n
1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless. The term comes from a story about the king of Siam, who was said to have given an albino elephant, considered sacred, to a member of the court whom he disliked, knowing that taking care of the animal would exhaust the person's fortune. At first, Eve was excited to inherit the farm, but it soon proved to be a white elephant she couldn't afford.
—The Free Dictionary Online
1
I think white elephant emphasises the cost aspects, where the question emphasises the uselessness of the item.
– k1eran
2 days ago
@k1eran: "1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless." I think if you read to the end of the definition you'll find what you're looking for.
– Robusto
2 days ago
2
I think white elephant is close but not quite right here. The OP’s question makes no mention that the item is expensive, and I think that aspect is core to the white elephant idiom.
– k1eran
2 days ago
1
You are entitled to your opinion.
– Robusto
2 days ago
add a comment |
This is what white elephant means.
white elephant n
1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless. The term comes from a story about the king of Siam, who was said to have given an albino elephant, considered sacred, to a member of the court whom he disliked, knowing that taking care of the animal would exhaust the person's fortune. At first, Eve was excited to inherit the farm, but it soon proved to be a white elephant she couldn't afford.
—The Free Dictionary Online
This is what white elephant means.
white elephant n
1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless. The term comes from a story about the king of Siam, who was said to have given an albino elephant, considered sacred, to a member of the court whom he disliked, knowing that taking care of the animal would exhaust the person's fortune. At first, Eve was excited to inherit the farm, but it soon proved to be a white elephant she couldn't afford.
—The Free Dictionary Online
answered 2 days ago
RobustoRobusto
128k29303516
128k29303516
1
I think white elephant emphasises the cost aspects, where the question emphasises the uselessness of the item.
– k1eran
2 days ago
@k1eran: "1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless." I think if you read to the end of the definition you'll find what you're looking for.
– Robusto
2 days ago
2
I think white elephant is close but not quite right here. The OP’s question makes no mention that the item is expensive, and I think that aspect is core to the white elephant idiom.
– k1eran
2 days ago
1
You are entitled to your opinion.
– Robusto
2 days ago
add a comment |
1
I think white elephant emphasises the cost aspects, where the question emphasises the uselessness of the item.
– k1eran
2 days ago
@k1eran: "1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless." I think if you read to the end of the definition you'll find what you're looking for.
– Robusto
2 days ago
2
I think white elephant is close but not quite right here. The OP’s question makes no mention that the item is expensive, and I think that aspect is core to the white elephant idiom.
– k1eran
2 days ago
1
You are entitled to your opinion.
– Robusto
2 days ago
1
1
I think white elephant emphasises the cost aspects, where the question emphasises the uselessness of the item.
– k1eran
2 days ago
I think white elephant emphasises the cost aspects, where the question emphasises the uselessness of the item.
– k1eran
2 days ago
@k1eran: "1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless." I think if you read to the end of the definition you'll find what you're looking for.
– Robusto
2 days ago
@k1eran: "1. An expensive item that is troublesome or useless." I think if you read to the end of the definition you'll find what you're looking for.
– Robusto
2 days ago
2
2
I think white elephant is close but not quite right here. The OP’s question makes no mention that the item is expensive, and I think that aspect is core to the white elephant idiom.
– k1eran
2 days ago
I think white elephant is close but not quite right here. The OP’s question makes no mention that the item is expensive, and I think that aspect is core to the white elephant idiom.
– k1eran
2 days ago
1
1
You are entitled to your opinion.
– Robusto
2 days ago
You are entitled to your opinion.
– Robusto
2 days ago
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2
'chocolate teapot' and 'solution looking for a problem' come to mind, but don't fit your sentence.
– Robin Betts
2 days ago
If you hadn’t mandated sarcasm, you could have said one of our most pointless technologies...
– k1eran
2 days ago
1
with sarcasm you get to pick a word with the exact opposite meaning: useful, practical, important ...
– Jim
2 days ago
1
Sorry, but voting to close as too broad and/or POB
– Jim
2 days ago
First off, cloning is extremely useful. Soon, you will be able to go to the dentist and get a tooth cloned. Setting that aside, a classic sarcastic idiom is "we need that like a fish needs a bicycle." The idiom has an interesting history.
– Phil Sweet
2 days ago