The building was located at the east end of the flagstone walkway, where the lamp post currently stands. Thus, then and now, rumors are talk from the 'scuttlebutt' or just 'scuttlebutt'. But, since the crew used to congregate around the 'scuttlebutt', that is where the rumors about the ship or voyage would begin. Even in today's Navy a drinking fountain is referred to as such. The term corresponds to the colloquial concept of a water cooler in an office setting, which at times becomes the focus of congregation and casual discussion. The cask from which the ship's crew took their drinking water - like a water fountain - was the 'scuttlebutt'. From Wikipedia: Scuttlebutt in slang usage means rumor or gossip, deriving from the nautical term for the cask used to serve water (or, later, a water fountain). If you're wondering how the Scuttlebutt got it's name, the origin of the word 'scuttlebutt,' which is nautical parlance for a rumor, comes from a combination of 'scuttle' - to make a hole in the ship's hull and thereby causing her to sink - and 'butt' - a cask or hogshead used in the days of wooden ships to hold drinking water. It was torn down because the building was in poor condition and would cost too much to repair. The Scuttlebutt was torn down in Oct 1996 after being closed in May 1995. A small wooden building, it was completed in 1943 for use as a canteen by the Navy Pre-Flight School during World War II. The Scuttlebutt was a popular snack bar on UNC's campus for 50 years. The word arose from the sailors' habit of gathering around the scuttlebutt on a ship's deck. From scuttle (a small opening in the deck or hull of a ship) + butt (cask). and it is even possible to guess that it probably is about something scandalous having to do with sex.PLEASE use stealth you will be visible to vehicles and pedestrians while searching! A drinking fountain or a cask of drinking water on a ship. culture just from the faces we can guess that they are talking about something shocking to some, amusing to others, and disreputable. I don't know if these facial expressions are universal, but in U.S. This picture by Norman Rockwell, 'The Gossips,' illustrates the spreading of gossip. 'cut a hole in the bottom or sides of a ship,' especially to sink it, 1640s, from skottell (n.) 'small, square hatchway or opening in a ship's deck' (late 15c.), from French escoutille (Modern French coutille) or directly from Spanish escotilla 'hatchway,' diminutive of escota 'opening in a garment,' from escotar 'cut (clothes to fit), cut out.

For example, in the United States, there is a story in the papers about the President maybe, or maybe not, having had an affair with a woman named Stormy Daniels. Scuttlebutt The origin of the word 'scuttlebutt,' which is nautical parlance for a rumor, comes from a combination of 'scuttle' and to make a hole in the ships hull and thereby causing her to sink - and 'butt' and a cask or hogshead used in the days of wooden ships to hold drinking water. 'Gossip' generally means 'dishing the dirt,' telling unpleasant stories about peoples' personal lives, generally their love lives.

A related idiom is 'I heard it through the grapevine.'Īt work, someone might say 'Well, the scuttlebutt is that the raises aren't going to be very good this year.' 'Scuttlebutt,' then, means casual rumors and information, on any topic, spread by word of mouth. Sailors would meet and chat while getting water at the scuttlebutt, in exactly the same way as they now meet and chat at the watercooler at work. On sailing ships, it was the barrel used to store drinking water. 'Scuttlebutt' is literally a nautical term, although most people don't know its origin. Both mean stories, possibly true, possibly untrue, carried by word-of-mouth-one person telling another, who tells another. 37 fantastic examples of sentences and phrases with the word scuttlebutt.

Origin of the word scuttlebutt