spruik

Etymology

Of unknown origin, likely Germanic. Compare Dutch spraak ("speech"), spreek ("speak"), spreuk ("saying") and sprook ("a story, fiction, tale, or false idea"). It was first recorded in the late 1890s and early 1900s, which points to a possible source in Afrikaans (i.e. brought back by soldiers returning from the Boer War). Apart from a few early uses of sprook, the spelling has stayed fixed since the word entered the language, and the uncommon ⟨ui⟩ digraph is further evidence of an Afrikaans or Dutch origin.