# What is meant by the phrase 'well-oiled' as used by Washington Irving to describe Rip Van Winkle's 'disposition? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723 "2022-09-17T14:39:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/1 "2022-09-17T14:39:13Z")
What is meant by the phrase ‘well-oiled’ as used by Washington Irving to describe Rip Van Winkle? I’ve only ever come across two definitions: 1. talkative and 2. drunk for personal characteristics. The meaning here seems to be more like ‘laid back’. Is this phrase dated? I don’t think I’ve ever come across it in anything other than "Rip Van Winkle’. ‘Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.’ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/2 "2022-09-17T14:42:42Z")
Unctuous? excessively or ingratiatingly flattering; oily. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/3 "2022-09-17T15:08:36Z")
Uriah Heep. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/4 "2022-09-17T15:10:28Z")
My interpretation is that he just goes with the flow and doesn’t complain, like a door that opens and closes smoothly without screeching. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/5 "2022-09-17T15:15:07Z")
excessively or ingratiatingly flattering? Not a good fit here. Talkative doesn’t quite fit either. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/6 "2022-09-17T15:16:23Z")
I agree hogarth. Thank you. Is wish I could find that definition listed somewhere. But that seems like a good fit here. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/7 "2022-09-17T15:20:41Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > My interpretation is that he just goes with the flow and doesn’t complain, like a door that opens and closes smoothly without screeching. Good comparison. I thought about a wagon wheel that runs smoothly without squeaking. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/8 "2022-09-17T15:37:13Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > ‘Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.’ Oil is a lubricant, so the implication is that he doesn’t experience much friction in life (owing to the fact that he demands little, and accommodates much). I’ve never heard it used elsewhere, so I tend to think it’s just the novelist’s turn of phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/9 "2022-09-17T17:10:51Z")
The context certainly seems to support @hogarth’s and @HMS_Irruncible’s interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/10 "2022-09-17T17:18:58Z")
Slight alternate possibility. Well-oiled leather is flexible and supple. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/11 "2022-09-17T19:36:15Z")
I’ve only heard “well-oiled” in the phrase “a well-oiled machine,” which means something that functions smoothly and efficiently, rarely breaking down or running into any problems. I think Irving is saying that Ichabod’s life is always pleasant and predictable, with no problems cropping up that might cause him any unpleasantness, much as **hogarth** and **HMS\_Irruncible** suggest. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/12 "2022-09-19T01:34:56Z")
Reasonably sure I’ve heard “well-oiled” applied to the inebriated, which could point directly at “laid back”. Dan ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-the-phrase-well-oiled-as-used-by-washington-irving-to-describe-rip-van-winkles-disposition/971723/13 "2022-09-19T01:40:12Z")
In _Bleak House_, the narrator describes Mr. Chadband as “a large yellow man with a fat smile and a general appearance of having a good deal of train oil in his system.” (possibly foreshadowing Mr. Krook’s spontaneous combustion)