Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Yiddish ·1890s
Spiel
from shpil
- Meaning
- A long or elaborate speech, especially a sales pitch.
- Source word
- shpil
- Route into English
- Yiddish *shpil* / German *Spiel* (play, game) → American English via 19th-century carnival barker slang. The carnival connection is why the word often carries a whiff of manipulation.
- Arrived
- 1890s
From Yiddish
Mass migration from Ashkenazi Eastern Europe to New York (1880–1920) funnelled Yiddish into American English, from where it diffused globally.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.