Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to speak in a way that resembles a showman; thus to speak in an insincere manner; thus spruiking n., speaking in such a manner.

1889		Music Hall & Theatre Rev. 13 July 8/2: Jocular Jokes [...] Did you ever see a silk had (sil cat) running after a straw hat (straw rat). English as she is spriker.
[1901		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 16 Jan. 1/6: ‘Shermorbiny!’ how did they ‘sprook’ compliments to each other].
1901		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 20 Mar. 1/6: Out at Rosehill was much sprookin’ / ‘Bout the prices books would lay.
1905		Sun. Times (Perth) 3 Sept. 1/5: He brightens up the dreary intervals of spruiking by ogling the girleens.
1907		N.Z. Truth 18 May 4/6: Vincent used to ‘spruik’ outside, and wanted everybody to go in and laugh and be happy.
1914		C.J. Dennis ‘The Play’ in Bulletin (Sydney) 16 July 47/1: ’E’ll sigh and spruik, an’ ’owl a lovesick vow – / (The silly cow!).
1918		C.J. Dennis ‘A Guide for Poits’ in Backblock Ballads 37: Wiv dinky ’arps fer blokes to plunk upon, / An’ spruiking poits workin’ overtime.
1921		N.Z. Truth 26 Mar. 6/3: Jack Wills [...] charged with double theft at Wanganui, had not a lawyer-man to spruik for him.
1938		Argus (Melbourne) 6 Aug. 10/3: Spruikers still spruik, and more and more tradespeople make full use of that fascinating new toy the microphone.
1940		E. Curry Hysterical Hist. of Aus. 144: All the soap-box spruiking, [...] paralysing pow-wowing.
1941		K. Tennant Battlers 143: The ampster’s is an easy job. He stands in the front row of the listening crowd registering interest and enthusiasm while the showman ‘spruiks’.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 109: Jimmy Brockett’s no lawyer but before ever Harry Phillips had spruiked for long I knew it was no go.
1952		Advertiser (Adelaide) 6 Sept. 7/7: In Leather Lane [...] you can buy any commodity you can think of [...] all accompanied by disarming Cockney spruiking.
1968		S. Gore Holy Smoke 59: Like the time these Pharises got on Jesus’s wheel when he’s spruikin’ the Good Word in the Temple.
1994		A.E. Martin Common People 122: Invariably he found something fresh to say, but he was too good a showman to spruik all the time.
2003		Sun. Herald Sun (Melbourne Aus.) 9 Mar. Z/27: Alicia Silverstone spruiking (haranguing) for organic cosmetics may not impact on global warming, but ...
2013		T. Peacock More You Bet 32: The bookmaker and the bagman [...] spruiked to the crowd, hoping to attract business while betting was proceeding.

2. to publicise, to advertise.

2009		P. Temple Truth 16: Up there in the air there’s like a whole suburb of unsold million-buck apartments. All spruiked to be as safe as living next door to the Benalla copshop in 1952.
2013		D. Whish-Wilson Zero at the Bone [ebook] On the day of listing as a public company, each of the directors would invest plenty of their own money by way of third parties. The share price would go up. A buzz would spread. Dodgy brokers would spruik it to gullible fools.
2016		M. Juchau tabletmag.com 27 July 🌐 It’s taken me a while to realize what Die Hausfrau is spruiking. It’s the gas oven purchased by my great grandparents in 1936.
2018		Twitter 14 May 🌐 [UK speaker] Andy Gray and Richards Keys roll out the big gun of Peter Reid, in no way reading from a crib sheet, to spruik the Qatar World Cup.
2021		Twitter 20 Aug. 🌐 Time to spruik some of the new reviews pouring into just-emerging Issue 18.3! First up here is @MarikoCurates on the Mervyn Bishop exhibition.
2022		J. Hotten Bat, Ball & Field 178: One of the many companies he [i.e. Shane Warne] spruiked products for.

3. (also sprook) to chatter (about).

1919		Aussie (France) XIII Apr. 17/1: ‘Say, Guy, you seem to have a tight hold on this ’ere lingo! It’s got me licked to a frazzle; how did yer learn it?’ / ‘Oh! just fagging it from books, and sprooking with the Mademoiselles,’ said Dinkum.
1926		N.Z. Truth 7 Oct. 11/6: Barbers have almost forgotten how to spruik about the weather.
1997		Bug (Aus.) 1 Oct. 🌐 They’re talking seagreen Ferraris when we’re spruiking birdshit green Holdens.