Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive, Australia To promote a thing or idea to another person.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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However, I will happily spruik the event to those on my flist in the vicinity?
Event Interest Gauge. karenhealey 2010
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I, on the other hand, am quite happy to spruik a new diet fad, (and was probably doing so) … basically cos it worked well for me.
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I get emails from film people wanting me to spruik their product, but if they spell my name wrong I tend to send it straight into the trash bin.
Glenn with a Double N Glenn Dunks 2010
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BigPond Movies has just released some research it commissioned to spruik its DVD-rental-by-mail service.
Why Would You Use A DVD Rental Service? | Lifehacker Australia 2008
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I get emails from film people wanting me to spruik their product, but if they spell my name wrong I tend to send it straight into the trash bin.
Archive 2010-06-01 Glenn Dunks 2010
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Barely two weeks after Judd Apatow's latest directorial job, Funny People, flopped at the American box office, Apatow himself has flown into down to spruik his product to a nation of people studios think won't know any better.
Archive 2009-08-01 Glenn Dunks 2009
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Klein, a corporate lawyer and political apparatchik, is here to spruik the virtues of Gillard's wacky plan to publish a rating system for schools.
Aussies to Klein: Political Apparatchik, Go Home Jim Horn 2008
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Klein, a corporate lawyer and political apparatchik, is here to spruik the virtues of Gillard's wacky plan to publish a rating system for schools.
Archive 2008-11-01 Jim Horn 2008
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BigPond Movies has just released some research it commissioned to spruik its DVD-rental-by-mail service.
Why Would You Use A DVD Rental Service? | Lifehacker Australia 2008
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I like these people ... once again: Ambrosini Professional Placements * spruik spruik*
March 15th, 2006 mynxii 2006
jrome commented on the word spruik
Mr Gabriel said the meeting last week inspired him to go to Silicon Valley next month to spruik his technology.
- http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/technology/better-than-google-creator-thinks-so/2007/05/28/1180205209239.html?page=2
May 30, 2007
skipvia commented on the word spruik
Australian slang. Said especially of showmen, salesmen, etc: to speak in public, especially at length and using ornate language.
November 9, 2007
yarb commented on the word spruik
Pronounced "sproo-eek"? Sproyk? Sprike?
November 9, 2007
skipvia commented on the word spruik
Don't know, yarb. I just saw it in print in an article from TechCrunch. None of the sources I can find give a pronunciation. My guess would be "SPROO king."
November 9, 2007
yarb commented on the word spruik
I've decided I don't like this word.
November 9, 2007
yarb commented on the word spruik
Just a couple of weeks before pulling the pin, BHP chief commercial officer Alberto Calderon was spruiking the offer to a London mining conference.
- Miningnewspemium.net, 12-2-08
December 3, 2008
frindley commented on the word spruik
Yes, it's spruik to rhyme with juke. I have had the entertaining discovery today that this is an Australian word of uncertain origin.
The Australian Macquarie Dictionary offers:
/spruk/ (say sproohk) Colloquial
--verb (i)
1. to harangue or address a meeting: to spruik the benefits of a unionised workforce.2. to harangue prospective customers to entice them into a show, strip joint, shop, etc.: *In Chinatown they are now subtly spruiking for custom. --herald, 1990.
--verb (t)
3. to promote; argue publicly for: to spruik the new legislation. origin uncertain--spruiker, noun
The New Shorter Oxford adds NZ to the mix, dates it as early 20th century, has no further clues about origins and says: "Esp. of a showman; hold forth, speak in public." With the spruiker, therefore, "a speaker employed to attract custom to a sideshow, a barker; a public speaker."
The spelling makes me wonder whether there's some Dutch or South African in there. Certainly there's a family resemblance to spreken, sprechen and that general family of words.
April 25, 2009
frindley commented on the word spruik
And it would seem I'm not alone in being unaware of its being a particularly Australian usage.
April 25, 2009