snake oil | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic)Afraudulent,ineffectivepotionornostrum;panacea.; AtraditionalChinesemedicineused to treatjointpain.; A type of 19th-centurypatent medicinesold in theUnited Statesthat claimed to containsnakefat, supposedly aNative Americanremedy for variousailments.; (idiomatic)Any product withexaggeratedmarketingbutquestionableorunverifiablequality.2022January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, inRAIL, number948, page 3:As for the IRP, Secretary of State Grant Shapps continues to peddlesnake oil, smoke and mirrors. His reaction to near-universal IRP condemnation from politicians, local and national media, and all but a few rail specialists was to dismiss the lot of us (in the condescending and patronising tone we have now come to expect) as "critics and naysayers".

Examples:

EN: Guaranteed Cherokee Indian snake oil!
ES: "Aceite de Serpiente" ¡Aceite de serpiente cheroquí!
ES: "Aceite de Serpiente" ¡Aceite de serpiente cheroquí!
EN: This genuine Indian snake oil...
ES: Este aceite de serpiente indio genuino...
ES: Este aceite de serpiente indio genuino...
EN: Maybe that's what you need, honey... a shot of snake oil.
ES: Quizá sea lo que necesites... aceite de serpiente.
ES: Quizá sea lo que necesites... aceite de serpiente.
EN: What's that you're rubbing in your hair, Ed, snake oil?
ES: ¿Qué te estás untando en el pelo, Ed, aceite de serpiente?
EN: It says: "Dr. A. Locksley Hall Kickapoo snake oil," and "lightning elixir."
ES: "Doctor A. Locksley Hall Aceite de Víbora Kikapú y Elixir de Relámpago".
EN: Coffee beans, snake oil.
ES: Café, judías, aceite de serpiente...
EN: You know, snake oil, crooked shell games, pick a few pockets...
ES: Aceite de serpiente, juegos con trampa, limpiaban bolsillos...
EN: Shasta, you don't have a bottle of that snake oil, do you?
ES: Shasta, ¿no tendrá una botellita de ese aceite de serpiente?
EN: - You got any more snake oil?
ES: - ¿Tiene más aceite de serpiente?
EN: - Your friend getting some snake oil.
ES: - Su amigo buscando el aceite.
EN: I've never been a snake oil salesman.
ES: Nunca he sido un estafador.
EN: Yes, you, you snake oil salesman.
ES: Sí, tú, vendedor de aceite de serpiente.
EN: With maybe a little liver remedy, snake oil thrown in for good measure.
ES: Quizá un poco de aceite de hígado o de víbora para completar.
EN: And he made snake oil, and he had... They call 'em trailers and campers now, but we called them house cars back then.
ES: Hacía pociones falsas, y tenía... ahora se llaman tráilers y campers, pero en esa época se llamaban autos-casa.
EN: The snake oil he's selling is Tuxedo Hill.
ES: El elíxir que está vendiendo es Tuxedo Hill.

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