spiel
/ʃpiːl
/ /spiːl /informal
noun
An elaborate or glib speech or story, typically one used by a salesperson: he delivers a breathless and effortless spiel in promotion of his new novel...
- For the course of the game he pretty much serves no purpose greater than giving you a basic spiel on your next mission.
- That didn't surprise me, because he definitely hadn't had time to breathe while delivering his spiel.
- She wasn't finished yet as she continued her spiel without taking a breath.
Synonyms
speech, line, patter, pitch, sales pitch;
monologue, rigmarole, story, saga
verb [with object]
1Reel off; recite: he solemnly spieled all he knew...
- Standing in front of a projected screen that displayed the words ‘In front of them all,’ he spieled out his military lingo with a Mid-Western accent, cycling through pictures and maps of wartime Korea.
- He half listened as the local news reporters spieled off the latest information and traffic for the morning.
- Early in the project, when asked by journalists, I simply spieled off theories of excarnation and an inverted underworld.
1.1 [no object] Speak glibly or at length: the barman spiels on the phone to his girlfriends...
- The great irony is, of course, with all this information - so much of it flotsam and jetsam - here am I, spieling.
Origin
Late 19th century: from German Spiel 'a game'.