She was not imaginative enough to associate any other meaning with the words.

NEWYORKER: Temporary

In some ways, then, the expression "white elephant" carries with it in Thailand a very different meaning from that which we associate with it in the West.

BBC: No white elephants in this herd

For one, the light that falls on your eyes is meaningless because it could mean anything, it's what we do with information that makes the difference, in how we find patterns and associate those patterns with a useful meaning.

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