spruik

Unknown, likely Germanic. Compare Dutch spraak (“speech”), spreek (“speak”), spreuk (“saying”), sprook (“a story, fiction, tale, or false idea”). First recorded in the late 1890s and early 1900s, suggesting a possible derivation from Afrikaans (i.e. brought back by soldiers returning from the Boer War). With the exception of a few early uses of sprook, the word's spelling has been fixed since it first entered the language. The uncommon <ui> digraph provides further evidence for an Afrikaans or Dutch origin.

• IPA^(key): /spɹuːk/

spruik (third-person singular simple present spruiks, present participle spruiking, simple past and past participle spruiked)

1. (transitive, Australia) To promote a thing or idea to another person.
   • 1948, Louis Esson, Louis Esson and the Australian Theatre, page 18,

     There was no spruiking or showmanship, no flash shirts or ten-gallon hats.

   • 2008 December 30, Lennon spruiks laptop 28 years after his death, The Sydney Morning Herald.
   • 2011, Kylie Ofiu, Work as a spruiker, 365 Ways to Make Money, page 120,

     It can be a hard job, constantly on your feet, trying to think of things to say to lure people into the store you are spruiking for.

• (promote something to someone): pimp, pitch, tout, hawk

• spruiker

• prusik