Golden hammer

A golden hammer is any tool, technology, paradigm, snake oil or similar whose proponents enthusiastically sing its praises. They predict that it will solve multiple problems, including some for which it is obviously not suitable. Likewise, a literal golden hammer would look highly impressive but would be no better (and quite possibly worse) than a hammer made of cheaper materials.

The phrase "When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" (Abraham Maslow) is similar to the concept of a golden hammer; once you have a tool that works for one task, you want to use it for everything just because it's available, and because you have already developed the skills to use it.

The opposite of using a "golden hammer" would be using the right tool for the job.

ee also

*Panacea
*Silver bullet