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
Spruik
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- Grand Panjandrum
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- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Re: Spruik
Spiv - Suspected Person, Itinerant, Vagrant? Or the opposite of VIPS?
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- call_copse
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Re: Spruik
Spiv I'm familiar with - typically a flash dressing type who deals in gray or black market items. Presumably spruiking is undertaking such dealings.
Iain
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Re: Spruik
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.
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