What is a "gleitzeit"?

A "gleitzeit" is a sudden, uninvited, but not necessarily unwelcome, commercial intrusion into a meeting place such as a chat room.

Also, a poltergeist with a pitch.

Ah! The unquestioned answer.

Also, a poltergeist with pitch.

Then beware that you do not become tarred with the same brush.

beware that you do not become tarred with the same brush

Will keep that in mind if I'm ever tempted to hawk something in here.

tempted to hawk something

But do you know a hawk from a handsaw?

But do you know a hawk from a handsaw?

I know I could hawk a handsaw in a power blackout. What else do I need to know?

How many remember what a "handsaw" was?

How many remember what a "handsaw" was?

Handsaws are still handy, wwh.

used one just today, actually. voompa, voompa...

Not that kind of handsaw.

are we talking tommy-gun, or some such thing?

I think the battles of Fong's handsaw age predate even Mr Gattling by a couple of centuries...

There was a severe shortage of electricity in Shakespeare's day, so all saws were used by hand. No need to specify.
And a couple of Shakespeare glossaries say "handsaw" meant a "heron".

heron

Gold star for Dr Bill.

So what's the Zeitgeist of gleitzeit?

...but not necessarily unwelcome, ...

Oh, it's unwelcome alright, but we've just apparently become *collectively too lazy to flip it the ol' bird.

too lazy...

We gave this one a heron - what d'ya want morehen!

in Shakespeare's day ... all saws were used by hand

"Old saws" never die. They just lose their teeth.