gossip

n. 小道传闻；随笔；爱说长道短的人

vi. 闲聊；传播流言蜚语

中文词源

gossip 闲聊，流言蜚语

gos, 来自god, 上帝。sip, 姐妹，词源同sibling, sister. 即上帝的姐妹，通常指妇女们聚在一起闲聊，闲侃，引申词义流言蜚语。

gossip: gossip: [OE] The Anglo-Saxons’ term for a ‘godparent’ was godsibb, a compound formed from god ‘god’ (just as in modern English godmother, godfather, etc) and sib ‘relative’ (a word of unknown origin from which modern English gets sibling). It denotes one’s ‘relative in God’, one’s ‘spiritual relative’. By Middle English times, however, it had come down in the world somewhat, to mean simply ‘close friend’, and by the 16th century it was being used for ‘one who indulges in idle talk’. The modern sense ‘idle talk’ developed from the verb in the 19th century.
=> god, sibling
gossip (n.): Old English godsibb "sponsor, godparent," from God + sibb "relative" (see sibling). Extended in Middle English to "a familiar acquaintance, a friend, neighbor" (c. 1300), especially to woman friends invited to attend a birth, later to "anyone engaging in familiar or idle talk" (1560s). Sense extended 1811 to "trifling talk, groundless rumor." Similar formations in Old Norse guðsifja, Old Saxon guþziff.
gossip (v.): "to talk idly about the affairs of others," 1620s, from gossip (n.). Related: Gossiped; gossiping.

1. 谐音"搞事婆". 助记法:喜欢(说闲话)的人都是搞事婆.

2. We read the gossip written about them with prurient interest.: 我们翻看他们的八卦时带着不洁的想法。

3. The jet-setting couple made frequent appearances in the gossip columns.: 这对穿梭于各国的富豪夫妇经常出现在八卦专栏。

4. There has been much gossip about the possible reasons for his absence.: 关于他缺席的原因有很多传言。