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A.Word.A.Day--spruik

spruik (sprook) verb intr.

To make an elaborate speech, especially to attract customers.

[Of unknown origin.]

"Lee Iacocca appeared in the first of 80 television commercials spruiking a money-back guarantee if people disliked their new Chryslers."
Gideon Haigh; Corporate kings; The Times (London, UK); Mar 17, 2004.

Poet Carl Sandburg once described slang as "a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands, and goes to work." Nothing wrong with words in tie and suit but sometimes only slang can do the job.

Since slang is often born in the back-alleys of language rather than in a sanitized hospital room, it's not easy to pin down its origins. Does that matter? Go ahead, hire this week's five hardworking words for your verbal mill.

-Anu Garg

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