I was talking with a friend who mentioned “taking tea to India”. It made me wonder what the equivalents are around the world. “Taking coals to Newcastle” is the UK’s.
I was talking with a friend who mentioned “taking tea to India”. It made me wonder what the equivalents are around the world. “Taking coals to Newcastle” is the UK’s.
Australia also has a Newcastle (in New South Wales, north of Sydney). Not sure if it has/had coal mines, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. Australians using the phrase may be referring to their Newcastle, and even unaware of the English one.
Yes, that’s why I mentioned it. When I said “works well in Australia”, what I meant was “in theory, the same logic you used to apply it to Newcastle-upon-Tyne could be used to apply it to Newcastle, NSW”, and not that it actually is used in Australia (I know I’ve never heard it).
Not just does it, but it is in fact home to Australia’s largest coal-shipping port. In fact, Port of Newcastle is, according to Wikipedia, the world’s largest coal terminal.