General
scuttlebutt
What does scuttlebutt mean?
Word on the deck. Unofficial info passed sailor to sailor, Marine to Marine — the kind that's usually half-wrong but spreads at light speed. Promotion lists, deployment rumours, who's getting relieved, who slept with whose wife. None of it confirmed; all of it discussed.
"Scuttlebutt is we're pushing back to Norfolk a week early."
Origin
Originally the cask (butt) of drinking water on a ship, with a hole (scuttle) cut in the top. Sailors gathered round it to drink — and to talk. The water-cooler of the age of sail.
Frequently asked questions
What does scuttlebutt mean?
Scuttlebutt is gossip or rumour — the unofficial word going round.
How do you use scuttlebutt in a sentence?
"The scuttlebutt around the office is that they're closing the branch."
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