The term “snake oil salesman” is often used to describe someone dishonest and untrustworthy. But where did this term come from? And was it always

Where Did the Term “Snake Oil Salesman” Come From?

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2022-05-16 10:00:15

The term “snake oil salesman” is often used to describe someone dishonest and untrustworthy. But where did this term come from? And was it always used in a negative light?

This blog post will explore the term’s origins and discuss how it has evolved. We will also look at how the word is portrayed in popular culture.

The origins of the term “snake oil salesman” are somewhat murky; however, hearing the words makes anyone’s skin crawl with unpleasantness. The term “snake oil” is often used to describe a worthless, fake medical remedy promoted as a cure-all for many illnesses. By extension, a snake-oil salesman is a person who sells these useless products for a quick profit before fleeing the scene to escape the backlash.

These elixirs, tonics, and salves often contained questionable ingredients, such as mineral oil, alcohol, cocaine, and opium. So, these products were fake, but they were addictive to those who fell prey to the nonsense. In some cases, these products might have had a small amount of natural snake oil; however, the active ingredient in snake oil, Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA), is not known to have many medicinal properties, but it is an omega-3 fatty acid.

For centuries snake oil has been a folk remedy used in Chinese Traditional medicine to treat joint pain. The use of snake oil dates back to the Transcontinental Railroad days of the 1860s when Chinese laborers were brought over to work on the project. 

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