Rumors and their slippery synonyms
Created | Updated Mar 11, 2002
It is inevitable that when people congregate to pass the time, information of varying accuracy is exchanged. There are several words in the English language to describe suspect or inconsequential information passed on in this way, but few people realise that the etymologies of these words are so close in circumstance. I'm sure there are more of these around, but here are a few.
Trivia
The word 'trivia' is derived from the latin for a three-way intersection: 'tri' (three) 'via' (road or street). The reference is therefore to information exchanged by travellers meeting on the road, which is often interesting but seldom of any consequence.
Scuttlebutt
'Scuttlebutt' is the old name for the lockable water cask on a ship's deck. Sailors congregating around the scuttlebutt would inevitably fall to exchanging rumors and other information, and the word eventually took on that more popular meaning.
Furphy
Not a word widely known or used outside Australia, a 'furphy' is also a rumor, usually one suspected to have little or no basis in fact. A 'furphy' was originally a two-wheeled water cart, manufactured at John Furphy's iron foundry in Shepparton, Victoria, in the 1870's. These water-carts were later widely used at the large army camp at Broadmeadows, outside Melbourne, and later at Gallipoli during World War I. Following the same etymology as scuttlebutt, the soldiers meeting around the water-cart came to refer to the rumors exchanged there as a 'furphy'. The word is often used by politicians and journalists in Australia to mean a lie, but this is not always an accurate use of the word.
Watercooler ...
The inevitable modern iteration of 'scuttlebutt' and 'furphy', the television press in America refers to a television programme which provokes enthusiastic public discussion as a 'watercooler show'. The obvious reference is to office workers gathered around their watercooler during a break, discussing the previous evening's viewing.