SKUTTLEBUTT origin of

Question

What is the meaning of and origin for the word SKUTTLEBUTT?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]What is the meaning of and origin for the word SKUTTLEBUTT?[/nq]
One thing: In the US, at least, it's spelled scuttlebutt. Beyond that, someone with a better dictionary than I have handy will be needed.

Maria Conlon
A very great part of the mischiefs that vex this world arises from words. (Edmund Burke)

Usenet · Answer

Charles B. Taylor wrote on 04 Jun 2004:
[nq:1]What is the meaning of and origin for the word SKUTTLEBUTT?[/nq]
OED2v3CD-ROM:
"scuttlebutt" or "scuttle-****"
a. Naut. A cask of drinking-water on board ship; a drinking-fountain. Also fig.

1805 J. J. Moore Midshipman's or Brit. Mariner's Vocab., Scuttle-****, or cask, is a cask having a square piece sawn out of its bilge and lashed upon the deck. It is used to contain the fresh water for daily use. 1832 E. C. Wines Two Years & Half in Navy I. iii. 45 At sea the marines in succession all do duty as sentries in the following places;?one at the cabin door, one at the scuttle~****, one at the brig. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxii. 123 Going to the scuttle-**** for a drink of water. 1844 J. F. Cooper Afloat & Ashore II. xi. 178 People never can tell so much of other person's affairs, without bailing out most of their ideas from their own scuttle-butts.
1846 Young Naut. Dict., Scuttled-**** or (as it is generallyabbreviated) Scuttle-****, a cask with a square hole cut in its bilge, kept on deck to hold water for ready use. 1920 U.S.S. Oklahoma Sea-Bag 25 July 2/1 The Scuttle **** has justified its existence as a source of prognostic rumor. The water is freezing cold?the Scuttle **** is iced.+ Come down and get a drink of cold water. 1972 F. van W. Mason Roads to Liberty 104 Katie, on her way to draw water from the scuttlebutt, saw a flying fish.

b. slang (orig. U.S. Naut.). Rumour, idle gossip, unfounded report.

1901 Smoking Lamp June 55/2 (title of miscellany column) Scuttlebutt. 1933 Leatherneck July 18/1 We will endeavor to convey all of the scandal, scuttle-****, dope and dopes to you through the... Editor. 1943 Sun (Baltimore) 20 Sept. 11/7 Also a cause for betting was the ultimate destination. In navy slang 'scuttlebutt' was rife and had the ship bound everywhere from China to Murmansk. 1950 'D. Divine' King of Fassarai iv. 20 I'd got the scuttle-**** about that from the Marine Corps boys. 1966 K. Giles Big Greed 76 He'd heard a rumour that the Frog drank+but he dismissed it as a scuttlebutt.
1977 Time 11 Apr. 17/1 Rawlings Co. now makes the official majorleague baseball after a 101-year Spalding reign, and the scuttle-**** is that Rawlings is turning out a rabbit ball. 1980 Rydge's (Sydney) Jan. 23/1 They are privy to vast amounts of corporate intelligence (and scuttlebutt) that runs daily around the Rialto.

c. attrib., as scuttle-**** gossip, (a) one who exchanges gossip at a scuttle-****; (b) the gossip exchanged there; scuttle-**** yarn, a yarn originating from talk around a scuttle-****.
1901 Smoking Lamp May 18/1 (title) Scuttle **** gossip. 1918 R.W. Kauffman Our Navy at Work xiii. 198 It's wilder than anything the scuttle-**** gossips could make up! Ibid. 199 Ships are full of...rumours...which originate in talk exchanged around the skuttle- ****, or drinking barrel, so that all wild stories are branded as 'scuttle-**** yarns'. 1923 Our Navy 1 May 15/2 While these rumors are branded as of the 'scuttle ****' variety they persist as rumors.
1930 P. Buranelli Maggie of Suicide Fleet ii. 57 There are storiesand rumors, scuttle-**** gossip.
Hence scuttlebutt v. intr., to gossip, to spread unfounded stories.

1945 H. I. Phillips Private Purkey's Private Peace xi. 62 Therewere many who felt...Oscar was just scuttle~butting.

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor.
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Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What is the meaning of and origin for the word SKUTTLEBUTT?[/nq]
Until you can afford your own dictionary or learn to use one of the free online ones, this entry from COD10 should hold you:

scuttlebutt
· n. informal, chiefly N. Amer. rumour; gossip.
? ORIGIN C19 (denoting a water **** on the deck of a ship, providing drinking water): from scuttled ****.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Charles B. Taylor wrote on 04 Jun 2004:[/nq]
[nq:2]What is the meaning of and origin for the word SKUTTLEBUTT?[/nq]
[nq:1]OED2v3CD-ROM: "scuttlebutt" or "scuttle-****" a. Naut. A cask of drinking-water on board ship; a drinking-fountain. Also fig. b. slang (orig. U.S. Naut.). Rumour, idle gossip, unfounded report.[/nq]
The idea of people gathering in the refreshment area to shoot the breeze has led to what we now call 'water cooler television'.
John Dean
Oxford

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