Word of the Day

: June 7, 2024

gossip

verb GAH-sup

What It Means

To gossip is to talk about the personal lives of other people.

// The two siblings often gossip with each other about their neighbors via texting.

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gossip in Context

“Not all gossip is bad, [psychologist, Miriam] Kirmayer said, nor does it always mean someone who talks about others will talk about you. ‘Sometimes, our friends are gossiping as a need to secure support or to set out our perspectives and experiences,’ she said. It can be a way to work through a problem or grow closer via shared values.” — Julia Pugachevsky, Business Insider, 26 Mar. 2024

Did You Know?

Merriam-Webster here, your one and only source for the juicy history of the English lexicon (including gossip, girl). It’s no secret that gossiping often involves discussing the intimate details of other people’s lives, but did you know that the origins of gossip are a bit more chummy, and even a tad divine? Word on the street is that the Old English word sibb, meaning “relative” or “kinsman,” long ago combined with the word god (meaning, well, “god”) to form godsibb, which referred to a person who was spiritually related to another, specifically by being a baptismal sponsor. Today we call such a person a godparent. Over the centuries, godsibb changed both in form and in meaning. In Middle English, gossib came to be used for a close friend or chum as well as for a godparent. From there it was only a short step to gossip, a word for anyone—not just a friend, relative, or sponsor—known for spilling the tea. By the early 17th century, gossip had expanded into the verb use that has been the talk of the town ever since.