The first reference to a healer as a quack goes back into the sixteenth century.
In those days it was common for dubious medicine men to travel from town to town dispensing their miracle cures from the back of a horse-drawn wagon.
The quack refers to the meaningless sound of a duck, which had the same validity as the claims made by the medicine men that their salves or ointments had healing powers.
Today’s quacks still dispense bad medicine.
The word “quack” comes from from the archaic Dutch word “quacksalver,” or “kwakzalver” in contemporary Dutch.
It means “boaster who applies a salve.”
Related Posts
-
What does quack mean and Where does the term “quack” come from?
The duck makes the same sound regardless of the country she is in and, with her waddle, she reminds one always of a pompous person, strutting along, and eternally quack quacking to himself.…
-
Where does the word “fake” come from and What does fake mean?
Until a hundred years ago the word "fake" was one of the words frowned upon by the schoolmasters. It was slang. Not only that, but it was the slang used by thieves and…
-
Where Did the Term “Spin Doctor” Come From and What Does the Phrase Mean?
The term spin doctor first appeared in the New York Times during Ronald Reagan's campaign for re-election in 1984. "Spin" is the twist given a baseball by a pitcher throwing a curve ball…
-
Where do fake cherries come from and How are artificial cherries made?
There are bright red cherries, sometimes found in pie fillings and cakes, that have nothing in them remotely resembling a real cherry. In the 1940's a synthetic cherry was created, comprised of a…
-
How Is Counterfeit Money Detected and How Long Does it Take To Tell If a Bill Is Fake?
Many of the specific techniques machines use to detect counterfeit money are closely guarded secrets, since once counterfeiters know how the machines work, they try to foil them. But two common means of…
-
How does a dollar bill changer know whether your dollar note is real or fake?
If you've ever tried to cheat a dollar bill changer by inserting a piece of notepaper, newspaper, or whatever's on hand when your money runs low, you'll know the machine is no fool.…
