carry coals to Newcastle

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Newcastle upon Tyne (in England) was a major coal-exporting city, so sending coal there would be pointless.

46 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Asturian: llevar fierro a Bilbao — do something unneeded or redundant
• Catalan: portar aigua al mar — do something unneeded or redundant
• Chinese Mandarin: 多此一舉 /多此一举 (duōcǐyījǔ) — do something unneeded or redundant
• Chinese Mandarin: 脫褲子放屁 /脱裤子放屁 (tuō khùzi fàngpì) — do something unneeded or redundant
• Czech: nosit dříví do lesa — do something unneeded or redundant
• Czech: nosit sovy do Atén — do something unneeded or redundant
• Danish: give bagerbørn hvedebrød — do something unneeded or redundant
• Dutch: uilen naar Athene dragen — do something unneeded or redundant
• Dutch: water naar de zee dragen — do something unneeded or redundant
• Esperanto: porti akvon al rivero — do something unneeded or redundant
• Esperanto: porti strigojn al Ateno — do something unneeded or redundant
• Estonian: kilplasetööd tegema — do something unneeded or redundant
• Finnish: kantaa vettä kaivoon — do something unneeded or redundant
• French: porter de l'eau à la rivière — do something unneeded or redundant
• German: Eulen nach Athen tragen — do something unneeded or redundant
• German: Holz in den Wald tragen — do something unneeded or redundant
• German: Wasser ins Meer tragen — do something unneeded or redundant
• Ancient Greek: γλαῦκ’ εἰς Ἀθήνας (glaûk’ eis Athḗnas) — do something unneeded or redundant
• Hungarian: vizet hord a Dunába — do something unneeded or redundant
• Icelandic: bera í bakkafullan lækinn — do something unneeded or redundant
• Irish: beir liúdar go Toraigh — do something unneeded or redundant
• Irish: cuimil saille ar thóin na muice méithe — do something unneeded or redundant
• Italian: portare nottole ad Atene — do something unneeded or redundant
• Italian: portare civette ad Atene — do something unneeded or redundant
• Italian: portare vasi a Samo — do something unneeded or redundant
• Japanese: 無駄骨を折る (mudabone wo oru) — do something unneeded or redundant
• Latin: in silvam ligna ferō — do something unneeded or redundant
• Norwegian Bokmål: gi bakerens barn brød — do something unneeded or redundant
• Norwegian Bokmål: gå over bekken etter vann — do something unneeded or redundant
• Norwegian Nynorsk: gje brød til bakaren sine born — do something unneeded or redundant
• Polish: wozić drewno do lasu — do something unneeded or redundant
• Portuguese: levar água ao mar — do something unneeded or redundant
• Portuguese: chover no molhado — do something unneeded or redundant
• Scottish Gaelic: thoir fiodhrach do Loch Abar — do something unneeded or redundant
• Scottish Gaelic: thoir eich a dh'Innse Gall — do something unneeded or redundant
• Slovak: voziť drevo do hory — do something unneeded or redundant
• Slovak: nosiť sovy do Atén — do something unneeded or redundant
• Slovene: zlivati vodo v morje — do something unneeded or redundant
• Spanish: llevar leña al monte — do something unneeded or redundant
• Spanish: llevar hierro a Vizcaya — do something unneeded or redundant
• Swedish: bära ugglor till Aten — do something unneeded or redundant
• Turkish: denize su götürmek — do something unneeded or redundant
• Vietnamese: chở củi về rừng — do something unneeded or redundant
• Vietnamese: dã tràng xe cát biển Đông — do something unneeded or redundant
• Vietnamese: dã tràng xe cát — do something unneeded or redundant
• Welsh: cario glo i Fflint — do something unneeded or redundant