"Snake Oil" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
0:00 - How to Say, “Snake oil.”
0:46 - Examples of “Snake oil.”
1:16 - Meaning of “Snake oil.”
1:49 - Origin of “Snake oil.”
4:40 - More Examples of “Snake oil.”
5:35 - Conclusion
“Snake oil.”
If someone says that something is “snake oil”, it means that they believe it’s fraud, deception, a scam or a lie.
This idiom is fairly common, but is chiefly an American or Canadian English phrase, due to its emergence in California during the mid-1800s.
“All these get-rich-quick schemes are just snake oil!” your partner might say after noticing you intently watching an ad that promises overnight riches.
Maybe your friend is showing you a Facebook ad for a face cream that promises to make her look ten years younger, “These things are all snake oil, y’know?!”
“Anyone that promises good health just from taking pills is a snake oil salesman!” you might be telling your parents after they spend hundreds of dollars on herbal supplements.
As you can see, “snake oil” describes something that is too good to be true, makes false promises, falls way short of assurances, does not live up to expectations.
“Snake oil salesman,” by extension, is someone who knowingly sells, peddles, promotes such misleading products.
As mentioned, the idiom, “snake oil” got its start in the USA during the mid-19th century at a time when many migrant labourers from all over the world arrived…
… seeking riches in the California Gold Rush of 1848 or simply seeking a way out of poverty through hard work constructing railways at around the same time.
You see, a lot of railway labourers and gold miners in both Canada and the USA came from coastal areas of China during the 19th century…
... as civil war, inept government and poverty gripped the Middle Kingdom. These Chinese sojourners brought with them their traditional medicine and one of these things was actual snake oil.
Snake oil has been used in Chinese traditional medicine to treat ailments such as arthritis and bursitis, a type of inflammation at the body’s joints. It is believed that the high omega-3 fatty acid content of oil from the Chinese sea snake gave it such curative, healing, protective properties.
Needless to say, locals looking to “make a quick buck” or “get rich quick” latched upon the wonders of snake oil and started manufacturing their own medicinal snake oils.
In the American West, rattlesnake or vipers were common, so it is from these snakes that American brands of snake oil were produced. Unfortunately, vipers are land-dwelling snakes and so their oils contain little omega-3 fatty acids.
Eventually, the promoters and sellers of “patent medicines” didn’t even bother putting actual snake oil into their concoctions, leading the public to regard all snake oil and all snake oil salesmen as frauds, tricksters, hucksters.
Thus, the idiom, “snake oil” and “snake oil salesman” were born into the English language, even though Chinese snake oil still did live up to its promises and is still used in Chinese traditional medicine.
“Organic food isn’t necessarily pesticide-free… depending on the producer, it might just be snake oil!” you might be carefully reading the label of some items at the grocery store.
Perhaps your friend shows you some blogs that back up his opinion, “A lot of these bloggers are snake oil salesmen! They either don’t do any research or do improper research and are simply writing articles to gain ad revenue,” you tell him.
“You need to watch what you eat and you need to exercise; any health supplement that claims otherwise is just snake oil,” your nutritionist might tell you after you show her what you bought.
So, the next time you encounter something that is too good to be true, inconceivably impressive or incredibly unbelievable, just call it “snake oil”!
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References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_oil
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswit...