snake oil salesman
7
8.0
- noun
- /ˈsneɪk ɔɪl ˈseɪlzˌmæn/
- Offensive
:
charlatán
- The documentary highlighted how snake oil salesmen take advantage of the desperate and vulnerable.
- snake oil salesman
But there's, I mean, it's such a booming industry and there is a lot of snake oil salesman within it.
- But there's, I mean, it's such a booming industry and there is a lot of snake oil salesman within it.
- He's like an old timey traveling snake oil salesman who made it full circle back to the Prairie town where he started.
- On the other hand, I would say she seems like an opportunistic snake oil salesman that threw her supposed son right under the bus.
- They're like, it's so obvious that being a snake oil salesman now.
- My brain says, because my mom and dad made me everything that says you're shit, Gary, you're a snake oil salesman, you're a piece of shit.
Examples
-
I have had enough, and I will not vote for a vicious, lying snake-oil salesman like Romney.
Blog text (1) -
We need men who say what they mean, not those who are snake oil salesmen.
Blog text (33) -
Obama is a front man, just like Bush, a snake oil salesman, and we got what we paid for.
Blog text (16) -
But nobody likes to admit they got suckered by the snake oil salesmen.
Blog text (12) -
I could sell this place to any number of sharp-tongued snake-oil salesmen like yourself.
-
He was exposed as a snake oil salesman when his fake miracle cure was proven ineffective.
-
Many people fell victim to the snake oil salesman who promised to cure all their ailments.
Synonyms
38
8.6
A person who says they have special skills to trick people
20
4.0
A person who tricks others to take their money or things
1
7.5
A person who pretends to be a doctor and gives fake medical treatments
A person who sells illegal drugs on the street
A person who illegally sells drugs to others
How Fraudulent
40
4.8
- Offensive
38
8.6
- Offensive
39
8.4
- Offensive
7
8.0
- Offensive
12
8.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'snake oil' is an idiom for a bogus or fraudulent remedy and does not mean literal oil from snakes, so a learner who knows 'snake', 'oil' and 'salesman' would not reliably infer the idiomatic sense. While 'salesman' transparently indicates a seller, the crucial cultural/idiomatic meaning of 'snake oil' is unpredictable without prior exposure, making the whole phrase opaque to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Snake oil salesman comes from traveling sellers long ago who sold bottles called snake oil and promised big cures, but the salesman often used tricks and the medicine did not work. That's why the phrase now means someone who 'sells fake medicines' or makes false promises.