Definitions
Wiktionary
- v. transitive, Australia To promote a thing or idea to another person.
Etymologies
- Unknown, likely Germanic – compare Dutch spraak ("speech"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“However, I will happily spruik the event to those on my flist in the vicinity?”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I like these people ... once again: Ambrosini Professional Placements * spruik spruik*”
“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.”
“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
“Now I don't spruik anything on my blog, but I want to alert you to a great cup of tea, and this from a coffee drinker.”
“We don't have impossibly cute movie starlets to spruik our case, only fat nerds in glasses and bad hair Peter Coroneos excepted... he's bald!”
“For example, suppose John engaged a bunch of independent contractors to spruik Freshblog around the internet.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘spruik’.
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kalidas's Words
crepuscular, mellifluous, ephemeral, diaphanous, zeitgeist, geisterfahrer, infinite, eternal, idyllic, azure, reminiscent, oblivion and 521 more...
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Carlos' Words
monstropolous, absquatulate
triffid, calque, pinguid, refulgent, monstropolous, Seanchaí, clinquant, Chryselephantine ..., peavey, milium, swage, Burtillon, Burtil... and 263 more...
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bintalshamsa's list
My Favorite Words
weltschmerz, perspicacity, idée fixe, invigilator, salubrious, tchotchke, ex nihilo, invidious, malapropism, naïve, sardonic, elide and 1459 more...
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Words grabbed from real life conversa...
If I've seen it, heard it, or marvelled at it, I'll stick it here.
cruft, ermine, redundant, shakespearean, camino, marvelous, stupendous, chagrin, shaven, sleek, smug, stillness and 325 more...
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Words that were new to me
but now they're not because I looked them up. In cases of polysemy or homography, *of course* it was the oddest meaning that stumped me. ;)
Procrustean bed, idem sonans, hob, backcap, quango, cheap-jack, pantechnicon, churrigueresco, chopfallen, maritorious, supererogation, catimini and 212 more...
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Strine
Australianisms & other Oz-related vocabulamary.
budgie smugglers, arvo, dingo's breakfast, prang, banana bender, bingle, white pointer, u.s., reg grundies, larrikin, jumbuck, cobber and 122 more...
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new acquisitions
found in the wild (i.e., not on Wordie!)
samara, indehiscent, paschal, rogation, wen, rete, diriment, epicene, duramen, euhemerism, objurgate, canaille and 429 more...
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Strewth Mate, or, The Antipodean Anhang
Aussie stuff that doesn't really belong in my other lists.
The name is a discreet tribute to Charles Cudworth and his essay: "Ye Olde Spuriosity Shoppe, or, Put it in the Anhang", whi...wagga wagga, woy woy, walla walla, wee waa, wollongong, cooee, lairy, australele, kafoops, bewdiful, nature strip, yonks and 42 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for spruik.
frindley And it would seem I'm not alone in being unaware of its being a particularly Australian usage. Apr 25, 2009
frindley 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. Apr 25, 2009
yarb 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 Dec 2, 2008
yarb I've decided I don't like this word. Nov 9, 2007
skipvia 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." Nov 9, 2007
yarb Pronounced "sproo-eek"? Sproyk? Sprike? Nov 9, 2007
skipvia Australian slang. Said especially of showmen, salesmen, etc: to speak in public, especially at length and using ornate language. Nov 9, 2007
jrome 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