cure-all

n.
A remedy that cures all diseases or evils; a panacea.

noun

Something believed to cure all human disorders: catholicon, panacea. See help/harm/harmless.

Origin: 1821

In the early nineteenth century, seeing a doctor could be hazardous to your health. Under the influence of Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia, doctors were causing more casualties than had the American Revolution. To cure hypertension, the supposed root of all illnesses, they would literally bleed their patients, in extreme cases removing as much as 80 percent of the blood. Then, to clear out the intestines, they might finish off their patients with stiff doses of mercurous chloride. Mercury does help cure infections, but we also now know it can have deadly long-term effects.

No wonder, then, that many Americans preferred self-medication. Besides, we lived in a democracy. Why bother with authority? Skip the doctor, heal yourself.

That was where patent medicine came in, so called because its manufacturers supposedly patented the ingredients. (In fact, usually all they had was trademark protection for the label.) It was obligingly provided by the new nation's pioneers in advertising and marketing. One of the patent medicines, launched by William Swain in 1820, was immodestly named Panacea. In plain English, that was Cure-all, a term we find in a newspaper of 1821. Expounding on "Popular Remedies against External and Internal Fogginess," the Journal of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, listed "Cure-all" as well as "rum and brandy."

In an era of great enterprise and ambition for the newly expanded nation, anything seemed possible. So why not a cure-all for everything that ails you? Swain's Panacea claimed to cure cancer, scrofula, sore throat, rheumatism, gout, hepatitis, diseases of the bones, liver complaints, and the early stages of syphilis. And it was potent. It contained sarsaparilla, oil of wintergreen, and "corrosive sublimate," a form of mercury. The first of these was a healing herb, the second pleasant-tasting, the third poisonous. Those who missed both the doctors and the cure-all had the greatest chances for survival.

In the twentieth century, pure food and drug laws put the cure-alls out of business. Now we know better than to expect a cure-all; we just hope for an arsenal of magic bullets (1940) to destroy diseases without harming the patient.

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IN BRIEF: n. - Hypothetical remedy for ills or diseases.

Tutor's tip: The doctor can "cure all" (to heal all) her patients, but she has not yet discovered a cure-all (a universal remedy for all ailments).

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - universalmiddel

Nederlands (Dutch)
wondermiddel

Français (French)
n. - panacée

Deutsch (German)
n. - Allheilmittel

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πανάκεια

Italiano (Italian)
toccasana, panacea

Português (Portuguese)
n. - panacéia (f)

Русский (Russian)
панацея

Español (Spanish)
n. - curalotodo, panacea

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - universalmedel

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
万灵药

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 萬靈藥

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 만병통치약

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 万能薬

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) علاج لكل العلل, حل لكل المشاكل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תרופת-פלא‬

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