blowoff
n.— «The Elliot Forbes speech was what is known in the carnival world as a “blowoff,” long used in 10-in-one freak shows to hustle additional money from people who had already paid an admission price. In any good blowoff, there’s the constant implication that the “good stuff” is in the attraction you haven’t paid for yet—in this case, the book.» —“Kroger Babb’s Roadshow” by Joe Bob Briggs Reason (Los Angeles, California) Nov., 2003. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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A young caller from the Hudson Valley of New York wonders about his grandmother’s use of stemwinder to praise a speech she thought was excellent. In the early 1800s, people used pocket watches that had to be wound with a tiny key. Once someone...