This is a word which comes from the world of sailing. `Butt' means `barrel' or `cask', and `scuttle' refers to the hatch on the deck of a ship.
A`scuttlebutt' was actually a barrel containing the day's supply of drinking water for the ship's crew. Since this barrel (butt) of water was placed near the hatch (scuttle), the container began to be called `scuttlebutt'. What do you think happened when the members of the crew got together to drink water? The same thing that happens today when colleagues in an office gather around the water cooler or the coffee machine. They gossiped! The sailors drank water, and gossiped about what was happening on the ship. In informal contexts, the expression `scuttlebutt' is used to mean `rumour' or `gossip'.
Have you heard the latest scuttlebutt about my new neighbour?
I don't pay too much attention to the scuttlebutt around here.
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