the.com/ointment
The slippery middleman between your wound and your dignity, always one fly away from ruin.
means A smooth, greasy preparation rubbed onto the skin to soothe, heal, or protect it.
from From Old French 'oignement,' built on the Latin verb 'unguere,' meaning 'to anoint' or 'to smear' — the same root that gives us 'unguent' and 'unction.' So an ointment was, quite literally, the stuff you anointed yourself with, whether for healing or for holiness. The phrase 'a fly in the ointment' comes from the Book of Ecclesiastes, where dead flies spoil the perfumer's precious salve — one small rot undoing the whole sweet jar.
- ancient origin
- Egyptians used scented ointments medicinally over 4,000 years ago
- the proverb
- One fly spoils a whole pot, hence the idiom
- vs cream
- Higher oil content means greasier, longer-lasting protection
- holy roots
- Sacred anointing oils blended myrrh, cinnamon, and olive oil
- word source
- Comes from Latin unguentum, meaning a salve
neosporin — antibiotic ointment containing neomycin, bacitracin, and polymyxin b, sold since 1951
vaseline — petroleum jelly product by unilever, first commercialized in 1870
tiger balm — topical pain relief ointment from singapore, created by aw chu kin in 1870
elidel — tacrolimus-based topical ointment for atopic dermatitis, fda approved 2000