scuttlebutt
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈskʌtəlbʌt/
ipa: /ˈskʌtəlˌbʌt/
ipa: [-ɾəl-]
Forms: form: scuttlebutts
form: scuttlebutting
form: scuttlebutted
form: scuttlebutted
form: scuttle-butt
Etymology: The noun is derived from scuttle (“to cut a hole through (something)”) + butt (“wooden cask”). Sense 2 (“gossip, idle chatter; rumour”) refers to the fact that sailors would gather around the scuttlebutt to drink and exchange gossip; compare furphy and water cooler.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: The Pentagon rumor factory hasn't been very busy lately, but some reports are being scuttlebutted about that the U.S. military chiefs are being downgraded in the pecking order and that their military advice has been bypassed or ignored by the Carter Administration.
ref: 1978 April, Lloyd Norman, “The Military Chiefs and Defense Policy: Is Anyone Listening?”, in L. James Binder, editor, Army, volume 28, number 4, Arlington, Va.: Association of the United States Army, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 14, column 1:
text: [B]ased on information coming back to the community after the initial review at the regional level, a concern that there was someone or some entity at the regional office that—who had a purposeful intent of scuttlebutting the Summit sale.
ref: 1998 September 2, Dennis Reynolds, “Statement of Dennis Reynolds, Grant County Judge, Grant County, Or”, in Removing Roadblocks to Responsible Forest Management: Hearing before the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifth Congress, Second Session […] (Serial No. 105-64), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 23:
text: Despite my sister's story, I am pretty sure they would have dismissed the bride story as so much malarkey scuttlebutted about by the town "talkers."
ref: 2003, Bridget Connelly, “On the Trail of the Thousand Dollar Bride”, in Forgetting Ireland, St. Paul, Minn.: Borealis Books, Minnesota Historical Society Press, →ISBN, part 1 (Oblivion), page 51:
text: Baloth growled angrily, balefully glaring at the perked ears of the nosy shoe shining demon, who knew he would be scuttle butting this entire conversation as soon as he got done with his chore.
ref: 2007, Richard Gartner, The Angel Jon, Mustang, Okla.: Tate Publishing & Enterprises, →ISBN, page 172:
glosses: To spread (information) by way of gossip or rumour.
examples: text: During the fighting for Manila, it was scuttle-butted among the troops that they must never put pin-up pictures on the walls of the Manila Hotel because Mrs. [Douglas] MacArthur owned fifty per cent of the property and Brigadier General Courtney Whitney, of MacArthur's staff, owned the other half.
ref: 1946, John LaCerda, “Whitecaps on the Moat”, in The Conqueror Comes to Tea: Japan under MacArthur, New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, →OCLC, pages 97–98:
text: Could that picture (of the water skiier taking a spill in the April issue) possibly be the latest development in the "one man helicopter" which is currently scuttlebutting around the aviation underground?
ref: 1952 June, James A. Young, Jr., “Letters”, in Arthur L. Schoeni, editor, Naval Aviation News, Washington, D.C.: Chief of Naval Operations and Bureau of Aeronautics, →OCLC, page 32, column 1:
text: Isn't it scuttlebutted and kicked around that if Litton is successful that it will use its yard down at Pascagula, Miss.? Isn't that generally understood between you two gentlemen?
ref: 1967 March 2, Alton Lennon, committee member, “Statement of Adm. David L. McDonald, Chief of Naval Operations”, in Hearings on Military Posture and a Bill (H.R. 9240) to Authorize Appropriations during the Fiscal Year 1968 […] before the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress, First Session […] (Serial No. 8), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 626:
text: Prodigal Son: Steve Wax, who rose meteorically from local promotion to top national posts with Bell and Elektra/Asylum, scuttlebutted as readying a return to the record arena.
ref: 1984 July 21, “Inside Track”, in Adam White, editor, Billboard: The International Newsweekly of Music & Home Entertainment, volume 96, number 28, New York, N.Y.: Billboard Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 72, column 4:
text: We've all been scuttlebutting about him. He hasn't come to the consulate, hasn't even called our head honcho, who wants to get his picture in the papers with him.
ref: 1986, Robert Ludlum, chapter 17, in The Bourne Supremacy, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 236:
glosses: To chat idly or gossip; also, to spread rumours.
Derived terms: word: scuttlebutting
Related terms: water cooler