In today’s blog post, we investigate the histories behind some of the health-related phrases we use every day.
Snake Oil
Snake oil refers to “a substance or product sold as a remedy for a disease or medical condition but which has no real medicinal value” (OED). But in the 19th century, snake oil was a legitimate medical product which Chinese immigrants introduced to Americans to help reduce inflammation. One explanation for why this works is that snake oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids, particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (Kunin 208). Traditional snake oil was made from Chinese water snakes, but because that species isn’t native to the U.S., some American businessmen claimed they were selling the Chinese product when they were actually using oil from rattlesnakes, which was less effective, possibly due to its lower concentration of EPA.
One of those businessmen was named Clark Stanley, and he marketed Stanley’s Snake Oil. But it wasn’t just the use of rattlesnake oil that made Stanley’s product fraudulent; a 1917 investigation found that Stanley’s Snake Oil actually did not contain any snake oil at all, rattlesnake or not! Now, the phrase “snake oil” is used to refer to any fraudulent medical products, forever besmirching the traditional Chinese medicine instead of the American charlatans who profited off of it.
An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Sure, it’s not too surprising that eating apples helps you stay healthy, but how long have people actually been saying so? The February 1866 edition of the journal Notes and Queries mentioned a proverb spoken in Pembrokeshire, a county in Wales: “Eat an apple on going to bed, And you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread.” That’s the earliest attestation of the phrase in any form, and it appears that by the late 19th or early 20th century, the phrase had been solidified into the form we know today.
A 2015 study researched the truth of this adage. The article concluded that “evidence does not support that an apple a day keeps the doctor away; however, the small fraction of US adults who eat an apple a day do appear to use fewer prescription medications.”
Laughter is the Best Medicine
The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, but the idea has been around for quite a while. Proverbs 17:22 of the King James Bible says: “A cheerful heart is good medicine / but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” And this isn’t a purely metaphorical statement. Simply search for the phrase on PubMed, and you will find that many studies have shown the positive healing effects of laughter. (It seems almost inevitable that if a medical article concerns the effects of laughter, the authors will use this phrase in the title.)
Under the Weather
This idiom almost certainly originated in the nautical world, although theories abound as to how exactly the phrase came to be. The most popular theory posits that when a sailor felt ill or seasick, he would retire under the weather bow of the ship (i.e. the windward-facing side) so as to prevent potential exposure to bad weather. Thus the sick sailor would be “under the weather”.
A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down
You might have thought it had older origins, but this pithy phrase was invented for the 1964 movie Mary Poppins. Julie Andrews had not yet committed to the main role and had mentioned to Walt Disney that she did not like one of the songs. Disney really wanted Andrews for the part and so he instructed the songwriters, brothers Robert and Richard Sherman, to come up with a more catchy song to replace the original.
The story goes that Robert Sherman arrived home from work a few days later, and his wife told him that their children had gotten their polio vaccine that day. He asked his son if the shot hurt. The boy responded that it was not a shot; rather, the medicine was placed on a sugar cube which he swallowed. Inspired by that story, Robert came up with the song “A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down”. Apparently, the song was good enough for Julie Andrews, and the rest is movie musical history!
References
Oxford English Dictionary (OED). https://www.oed.com/
Ely, Margaret. (2013, September 24.) History behind ‘An apple a day.’ The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/history-behind-an-apple-a-day/2013/09/24/aac3e79c-1f0e-11e3-94a2-6c66b668ea55_story.html
Gandhi, L. (2013, August 26.) A History of ‘Snake Oil Salesmen.’ NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/26/215761377/a-history-of-snake-oil-salesmen
Gutosky, Ellen. (2022, September 30.) The Cloudy Origins of the Phrase ‘Under the Weather’. Mental Floss. https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/under-the-weather-meaning
Kunin, R. A. (1989). Snake oil. The Western journal of medicine, 151(2), 208. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1026931/
