Word: spiel
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...nighttime shadows next to the Park St. MBTA station, Roger paces up and down, peering into the dark beyond the yellow edge of the streetlight. He launches into his spiel as someone approaches, voice as quick and confident as the man who sells vegematics on UHF channels. "Spare a quarter, dime, nickel, anything?" he asks; depending on the audience, the end of his pitch differs. If it is an older person, Roger needs a bath, some food, and he surely does. When young people pass, Roger explains with perfect frankness that all he lacks is a few cents...
...office, it is a dream come true. Top-of-the-rung men's or women's $500 suits for a modest monthly charge, eligible for trade-in when lapels narrow or hemlines drop -and there may even be a corporate tax deduction. That's the sales spiel of new "suit leasing" and "wardrobe analysis" firms...
...instance, he was particularly persuasive as a celebrity auctioneer at a charity sale at Christie's galleries in Manhattan: "Give me a 50, a 50, a 50, let's see a 60, a 65. Don't scratch your nose because I'm very observant." His spiel swiftly sold five lots of porcelain objets d'art, raising $1,160 for the World Wildlife Fund. Cronkite said he learned his patter from the Lucky Strike tobacco auctioneers, who were last on radio when he was still a cub wire-service reporter. No matter. Impressed, Christie...
...this mixture of stances nor forced Bush to distinguish himself from his fellow Republicans on domestic issues. The media can thus take credit for helping Bush maintain his reputation as a man with whom anyone can agree. The whole scene recalls journalists' failure to pursue Carter's cliche-ridden spiel in 1976, when they opted instead to concentrate on his image as a fresh face, untainted by big time national politics and, of course, Watergate...
...Tuesday morning new Harvard employees follow handwritten signs through the corridors of Mem Hall to a secluded basement orientation room. There, anywhere from a handful to more than 40 people--mostly women--spend two hours guzzling coffee, watching a slide show about working for Harvard, and listening to a spiel on employees benefits. Dennis P. Nations, a counselor in the benefits section and a moderator of the orientation session, tells the group the fat information packets they are receiving will make great bedside reading...