4 ms·
spruik [ sprook ] promote: to promote goods, services, or a cause by addressing people in a public place I had no idea that was a word. I thought it was
by RandallBrown 13y ago
spruik
[ sprook ]
promote: to promote goods, services, or a cause by addressing people in a public place
I had no idea that was a word. I thought it was a typo until I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be.
Thanks for teaching me something new today!
- thejosh 13y agoYou know people who have those speakers and a microphone in stores and stand outside a store and try to sell? They are known as spruikers.
- marshray 13y agoI don't recall ever having seen that in the US.
- kivikakk 13y agoCommon enough in AU!
- kghose 13y agoAlso known as hawkers, eg. street hawker.
- singingfish 13y agoNo, a street hawker is selling you stuff off the street. A spruiker is enticing you to enter a location where stuff is being sold.
- ableal 13y agoI believe that is a tout - as in "touting his wares". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tout mentions barker (US) and spruiker (AU) as equivalent.
- billforsternz 13y agoI am pretty sure the word is either Australian English, or only used in Australia. In Australia the word is ubiquitous almost to the point of being tiresome. It seems to crop up in every second news item ("Prime Minister spruiks free trade benefits..." etc.) for example. But even here in New Zealand the word is completely foreign to those who haven't spent time in Australia. It's kind of weird actually.
- vacri 13y agoHrm. I assumed that it had Cockney roots, as is often the case with Australianisms. Wiktionary classes it as a possible Germanic origin, which would be unusual to come to Australia without going via somewhere else first. Curious.