Word of the Day : August 14, 2021

scuttlebutt

流言蜚语；谣言

noun SKUTT-ul-butt

What It Means

Scuttlebutt is an informal noun that refers to rumor or gossip.

Scuttlebutt 是一个非正式名词，指的是谣言或八卦。

Examples

After he retired, Bob regularly stopped by the office to catch up on the latest scuttlebutt.

退休后，Bob 经常去办公室听听新的闲言碎语。

"There's always a bit of scuttlebutt when a talented chef leaves a popular restaurant to pursue another opportunity." — Ligaya Figueras, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 29 Apr. 2021

当一位才华横溢的厨师离开一家受欢迎的餐厅去寻找另一个机会时，总会有一些谣言八卦。

Did You Know?

When office workers catch up on the latest scuttlebutt around the water cooler, they are continuing a long-standing tradition that probably also occurred on the sailing ships of yore. Back in the early 1800s, the cask containing a ship's daily supply of fresh water was called a scuttlebutt (from the verb scuttle meaning "to cut a hole through" and the noun butt, "cask"); that name was later applied to a drinking fountain on a ship or at a naval installation. In time, the term for the water source was also applied to the gossip and rumors generated around it, and the latest chatter has been called "scuttlebutt" ever since.

当办公室职员们在饮水机旁听到最新的流言蜚语时，他们是在延续一项可能也发生在古代帆船上的悠久传统。早在 1800 年代初期，装有船舶日常淡水供应的木桶被称为 scuttlebutt（来自动词 scuttle 的意思是“to cut a hole through「挖个洞」”和名词 butt，“cask「桶」”）； 这个名字后来被应用于船上或海军设施上的饮水机。 随着时间的流逝，有关水的这个词也被应用于围绕它产生的 gossip 「八卦」和 rumors「谣言」，从那时起，最新的喋喋不休就被称为“scuttlebutt”。

Quiz

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of scuttlebutt meaning "rumor": h _ _ r s _ _.

答案：hearsay「传闻」