Spruik

[David Myer]

Fairly widely used in Australia (certainly in my circle), I like this word because it's the sort of thing a spiv does, and that's another favourite word. But the derivation seems to be beyond most dictionaries. I must say, it does sound vaguely Yiddish...?

David

[Slava]

Spiv - Suspected Person, Itinerant, Vagrant? Or the opposite of VIPS?

[call_copse]

Spiv I'm familiar with - typically a flash dressing type who deals in gray or black market items. Presumably spruiking is undertaking such dealings.

[David Myer]

I like your idea Slava of spiv being the opposite of VIPs. There is some joy in that. The Suspected Person idea is surely just a fun and fanciful idea. But I'd love to get to the bottom of the real origins.