huckster

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The Word of the Day for October 13 is:

huckster   \HUCK-ster\   noun
    *1 : hawker, peddler 
     2 : one who produces promotional material for commercial clients 
especially for radio or television

Example sentence:
     It was said that Martin was such a clever huckster that he could even sell 
snow shovels to sunbathers in the summertime. 

Did you know?
     Hawkers, peddlers, and hucksters have been selling things out of the back 
of wagons, in narrow alleys, and on the fringes of towns for years (though 
nowadays, they're more likely to plug their wares on television or the 
Internet). Of those three words -- "hawker," "peddler," or "huckster" -- the 
one that has been around the longest in English is "huckster." It has been with 
us for over 800 years, and it derives from the Middle Dutch word "hokester," 
which in turn comes from the verb "hoeken," meaning "to peddle." "Peddler" (or 
"pedlar") was first attested in the 14th century, and this sense of "hawker" 
has only been appearing in English texts since the early 1500s. 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.





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