# carrying coals to Newcastle



## Engeland

Hoi!

I live in a town in England called Newcastle upon Tyne, and one expression here is 'to take all your coals to Newcastle'. It means, to take something somewhere, where the thing is already in abundance. Like if you were going to try and sell cars in an area where everyone already has a better model of car, you'd be taking all your coals to Newcastle, since you're taking something somewhere where it is already abundant.

WIKIPEDIA: It refers to the fact that historically, the economy of Newcastle upon Tyne in north-eastern England was heavily dependent on the distribution and sale of coal—by the time of the first known recording of the phrase in 1538, 15,000 tonnes of coal were being exported annually from the area—and therefore any attempt to sell coal to Newcastle would be doomed to failure because of the economic principle of supply and demand.

(Sorry, thats the best I can do to explain, you can try google?)

Anyway, I like to write in Dutch to help my skills, and I want to use a Dutch equivalent of this idiom (obviously not word-to-word, but having a similar meaning). I usually write simpler texts aimed at young children (obviously I dont publish, this is just to help my language, but I need to maintain the writing style) so it can't be hugely formal, it must be understandable for children.

Can anyone think of anything I could use?

CONTEXT (it's based in Norway):

*A: *I'm going to sell the ice! We'll be rich!
_(Ik zal het ijs verkopen! We zullen rijk zijn!)_

*B: *Pfft, you are taking all your coals to Newcastle.

Dankjewel c;

-Sam


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## Peterdg

I guess there are several ways to say it in Dutch but the one that comes first to my mind is: "water naar de zee brengen". So, in your story, you could say: "Dat is als water naar de zee brengen".


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## Engeland

Peterdg said:


> I guess there are several ways to say it in Ducth but the one that comes first to my mind is: "water naar de zee brengen". So, in your story, you could say: "Dat is als water naar de zee brengen".



Dankje! I spoke to a Dutch friend and they said I could also say:

_"Pfft. Je bent water naar de zee aan het brengen" _which personally feels more natural for the character. Does that make just as much sense?


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## Peterdg

Yes, that's OK too.


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## YellowOnline

Oops, saw this thread too late. The correct expression is not "_water naar de zee brengen_" but "_water naar de zee dragen_"!


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## Engeland

YellowOnline said:


> Oops, saw this thread too late. The correct expression is not "_water naar de zee brengen_" but "_water naar de zee dragen_"!



Are you sure? I checked with some Dutch friends and they all immediately said 'brengen'. If it's because 'carry' is in the title, I don't know why that is. A staff member must have changed my title to 'carry' rather than 'take'.


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## bibibiben

Engeland said:


> Are you sure? I checked with some Dutch friends and they all immediately said 'brengen'. If it's because 'carry' is in the title, I don't know why that is. A staff member must have changed my title to 'carry' rather than 'take'.


_
Dragen_ is correct. Stoett's 'Nederlandse spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden', quite an authority, mentions _water in zee dragen_ and _water naar de zee dragen_. _Water naar de zee brengen_ yields many hits on Google as well, but it's not the canonical form.


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## AllegroModerato

One more vote for 'dragen'.


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## matakoweg

I know this expression also as: water naar de zee dragen
maybe there is confusion with the expression: uilen naar Athene brengen with the same meaning


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## Stoggler

There's nothing wrong with the English expression "taking coals to Newcastle", so no idea why it was changed.  Taking, carrying, or selling coals to Newcastle are all used in my experience.


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## marrish

But you know its all about Dutch here, the English idiom serves here only as a starter.


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