- (a) snake-oil salesman
- American, informal
someone who tries to sell you something of no value.
The American people are too easily deceived - the perfect target for any passing snake-oil salesman.
New idioms dictionary. 2014.
(a) snake-oil salesman
Look at other dictionaries:
snake oil salesman — UK US noun [C] DISAPPROVING ► someone who deceives people in order to get money from them: »He was dubbed a modern day snake oil salesman after he ripped off thousands of internet customers … Financial and business terms
snake-oil salesman — /ˈsneɪk ɔɪl seɪlzmən/ (say snayk oyl saylzmuhn) noun a swindler; confidence trickster. Also, snake oil doctor, snake oil merchant, goanna oil salesman. {from the stereotype of the travelling salesman who sold snake oil as an all purpose remedy} …
Snake oil — is a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat joint pain. However, the most common usage of the phrase is as a derogatory term for compounds offered as medicines which implies that they are fake, fraudulent, quackish, or ineffective. The… … Wikipedia
snake oil — n [U] especially AmE informal 1.) something that is claimed to be a solution to a problem, but is not effective 2.) snake oil salesman/peddler someone who deceives people by persuading them to accept false information, solutions that are not… … Dictionary of contemporary English
snake oil — noun 1. (medicine) any of various liquids sold as medicine (as by a travelling medicine show) but medically worthless (Freq. 1) • Topics: ↑medicine, ↑medical specialty • Hypernyms: ↑liquid 2. communication (written or spoken) intended to deceive … Useful english dictionary
Snake oil salesman — quack or a person selling phoney medical treatments … Dictionary of Australian slang
snake oil salesman — Australian Slang quack or a person selling phoney medical treatments … English dialects glossary
snake oil — liquid that is sold as a cure all medication by traveling salesman (usually as a scam); deception, trickery, fraud (Slang) … English contemporary dictionary
salesman — sales‧man [ˈseɪlzmən] noun salesmen PLURALFORM [ mən] [countable] MARKETING a man whose job is to persuade people to buy his company s products: • an insurance salesman ˌtravelling ˈsalesman MARKETING … Financial and business terms
salesman — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ good, successful ▪ door to door, travelling/traveling ▪ car, computer, double glazing (BrE), insurance … Collocations dictionary
