"I used to tell her she could sell ice to Eskimos."

"I always say she can sell ice to Eskimos," he said.

"Any deal," he said, "is like selling ice to Eskimos."

Marketing and advertising types like to consider themselves clever enough to sell ice to Eskimos.

Rogers denied taking a music festival to America is the rock promoter equivalent of selling ice to Eskimos.

Former premier can 'sell ice to eskimos', but a mission to lure Woods to open Qld golf course may be beyond him.

At a manufacturing outlet I was involved in there was a salesman who had the reputation of being able to sell ice to Eskimos.

Generally speaking, bringing foreign-made rock 'n' roll into the United States presents what you could call a "selling ice to Eskimos" kind of problem.

“I know it sounds a bit like selling ice to Eskimos, but although China is the source of so much tea, we think there is a real opportunity.

The story: a guy who can sell ice to Eskimos decides that his thoughts on golf could be marketable, so he returns to the game after a 32-year hiatus.

And could he compare with the consummate showman Jobs, with his "reality distortion field" capable of selling ice to Eskimos when it comes to presenting a product?

Checketts's father, Clyde, was a tough-love Marine with big dreams, "a hustler, someone who everybody always told me could sell ice to Eskimos," Dave Checketts says.

It's like "selling ice to Eskimos," but it might work, according to Paul Swangard of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon.

In fact, so plentiful were the black diamonds that the expression "Taking Coals to Newcastle" has come into the language to mean any superfluous activity - equivalent to selling ice to eskimos.

Some may think that shipping kosher wines to Israel is somewhat akin to selling ice to Eskimos, but in this case the Hagafen wines are a most welcome addition to local shelves.

Whether he’s pitching a scheme to rip off a casino, a swordfishing trip in bad weather, or a politically risky newscast in Good Night and Good Luck, there’s no doubt the guy could sell ice to Eskimos.

One veteran Republican consultant and frequent Schwarzenegger ally, who asked to remain anonymous because he doesn't want to alienate the governor, puts it this way: "I know he thinks he can still sell ice to Eskimos, but he's not there anymore.

Described by one parliamentarian as a man who can "sell ice to Eskimos and sand to the Bedouin" he must persuadie Greek society of the need to implement structural reform and crackdown on tax evasion, which is estimated to cost the state up to €50 billion a year.