You’re not going to believe this. The guy in the photo below, according to our caption, is a snake oil salesman.
That’s right. The very phrase synonymous with hooey, bunkum, hogwash, and still he’s making a living at it in Myanmar. Don’t they have thesauruses over there?
I personally like to imagine that he even has business cards saying, like, “Lonnie Johnson, Snake Oil Salesman Extraordinaire!”
“Joey, our snakes have been squeaky lately. Run up the street to Lonnie’s blanket and buy a worthless preparation, please.”
“Oh Ma, isn’t there someplace else we can get a quack remedy?”
“No young man, Lonnie has the best worthless preparations in all Yangon. That’s why he has his own blanket!”
“Okay, Ma. Can I get some magic beans, too?”
Join the Oddly Enough blog network
Follow this blog on Twitter at rbasler
A man displays snakes while selling snake oil street-side in Yangon July 22, 2009. The oil is used as traditional medicine to treat pain. REUTERS/ Soe Zeya Tun
Trackback
17 comments so far
Kewl, Reuter’s snake oil guys have sold the little CAPTCHA box. In my case it was ikea.
- Posted by GoingLikeSixtyWell done!
Baby name meaning and origin for Yuriko…
Description for the baby name Yuriko, the origins of the name and its meaning…
- Posted by Baby-Parenting.comBob, I think the snake oil people are exploiting weaknesses in your spam filter . . .
- Posted by AaronWhat spam filter?
- Posted by Robert BaslerQuick someone make a snappy comment about the spam filter being snake oil.
- Posted by Warll«The very phrase synonymous with hooey, bunkum, hogwash, and still he’s making a living at it in Myanmar. Don’t they have thesauruses over there?»
English is not a superior language to wich all other language should refer too. Not many English idioms are universal.
The photo indicates snake oil salesman because the guy litterally sells snake oil. It’s as simple as that.
- Posted by PascalSnake oil is a Chinese folk remedy (which Western medicine would say doesn’t work, I’m sure), and the term got its meaning about fraudulence because people were selling other oils calling them snake oil. So I’d say it’s not too surprising that there are people in the Eastern world selling snake oil, and judging by those snakes I can even believe it’s actual snake oil.
- Posted by Zith[...] 1. We found him! He really exists! [...]
- Posted by The best of a very stupid month… | Not So Headline News[...] 1. We found him! He really exists! [...]
- Posted by The best of a very stupid month… | iSawNEWS.comBut, is there a web link where we can buy some? Does this guy have a Yahoo! Storefront or something?
- Posted by Rionn Fears MalechemI AM JUST CURIOUS & TOO LAZY TO LOOK IT UP.
Have heard teh phraise = “Snake Oil Salesman”.
However - as i viewed the pic of the guy with the snakes and the big glass jug - My thought was =
“What is Snake Oil?” - Obviously - It comes from Snakes
But - How - What - When - Where ?
as i began - Just curious - I leave
OR - i thought - if snakes give no OIL - especially enough to fill a very large glass container - is snake oil just a term for “DOES NOT EXIST” ? AKA - Let’s go snipe hunting !
- Posted by tedWhen my sister was backpacking through Burma/Thailand/Vietnam she often came across snakes/scorpions preserved in whiskey in demijohns much like the one in your picture. The locals claimed it added an extra “kick”.
- Posted by Ausmith1Could the guy pictured above possibly be selling snake favored whiskey and not snake oil?
Here’s one on Youtube: Bottle of Laos Snake Whiskey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BzqFOkCP RA
[...] http://blogs.reuters.com/oddly-enough/20 09/07/24/we-found-him-he-really-exists/ [...]
- Posted by William Beegle (beegle) 's status on Thursday, 06-Aug-09 18:05:07 UTC - Identi.ca[...] “security theater.” Well, it turns out that there really is a snake oil salesman. http://blogs.reuters.com/oddly-enough/20 09/07/24/we-found-him-he-really-exists/ [...]
- Posted by Bruce Schneier – CRYPTO-GRAM, August 15, 2009 | yon Leveron blog[...] Oddly Enough ” Blog Archive ” We found him! He really exists! | Blogs | [...]
- Posted by Baby names search - Search for AxisCongratulations!
@GoingLikeSixty you wouldn’t believe it, my CAPTCHA is ikea too!
- Posted by Daniel W. Crompton[...] is a vague concept, requires expertise and is mostly not understood properly. And as it is; snake oil salesman are out there. Yet I have heard this misconception in other discussions from some customers and [...]
- Posted by Business Mapping Blog » Google Maps, is that secure for Business Data?