shill

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The Word of the Day for February 27 is:

shill   \SHILL\   verb
     1 : to act as a decoy (as for a pitchman or gambler)
    *2 : to act as a spokesperson or promoter

Example sentence:
     She's starring in a new sitcom this season and also shilling for a shampoo 
in a series of newly released ads.

Did you know?
     Professionals licensed to shill won't necessarily knock you dead, but they 
may not do you any good either. They might simply be pitchmen employed to extol 
the wonders of legitimate products. But in the early 1900s, when the first uses 
of the verb "shill" were documented, it was more likely that anyone hired to 
shill was trying to con you into parting with some cash. Practitioners were 
called "shills" (that noun also dates from the early 1900s), and they did 
everything from faking big wins at casinos (to promote gambling) to pretending 
to buy tickets (to encourage people to see certain shows). "Shill" is thought 
to be a shortened form of "shillaber," but etymologists have found no 
definitive evidence of where that longer term originated.

*Indicates sense illustrated in the example sentence.






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