A spiel is a lengthy, often glib talk that’s intended to persuade or make excuses. Infomercials feature salespeople giving a 30-minute spiel about some product. Used as a noun or verb, spiel originates from the German word spielen, meaning “to play.” It’s often somewhat rehearsed and should be greeted with skepticism.

Is spiel a Yiddish?

Borrowed from German Spiel (“game, performance”) and/or Yiddish שפּיל‎ (shpil), both from Middle High German spil, from Old High German spil, from Proto-West Germanic *spil. Cognate with Old English spilian (“to revel, play”). See speel.

Is the word spiel offensive?

A long, involved sales pitch, as in, “I had to listen to his whole spiel before I found out what he really wanted.” From the German word for play. Often used as an insulting word for a self-made fool, but you shouldn’t use it in polite company at all, since it refers to male anatomy.