[BITList] new word?

[Robbo]

Col

 

>From the ABC wordwatch (Oz broadcasting that is)


Spruik


Presented by Kel Richards 

If you're "spruiking" something then you're loudly promoting its merits...

the thing to notice is that we're so familiar with the idea of "spruiking"
it's unlikely to occur to us that this is one of Aussie English's
contributions to the world

We might talk about a politician "spruiking" his party's latest policy, or
of a celebrity "spruiking" the benefits on a particular shampoo on a TV
commercial. It's Aussie word, first recorded in 1902 for a speaker employed
to attract customers - especially someone standing at the entrance to a
sideshow trying to persuade passers-by to come in. The Oxford Dictionary
says the origin is unknown, however there is a suggestion that it may come
from the German or Dutch words for "speak" or (possibly) from a related
Yiddish source word. But the thing to notice is that we're so familiar with
the idea of "spruiking" it's unlikely to occur to us that this is one of
Aussie English's contributions to the world.

 

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