This week's theme
Words of nautical origins

This week's words
doldrums
scupper
scuttlebutt
bonanza
groundswell

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(SKUT-l-but)

MEANING:

noun:
1. Rumor, gossip.
2. A drinking fountain or a cask of drinking water on a ship.

ETYMOLOGY:

From scuttle (a small opening in the deck or hull of a ship) + butt (cask). Also see furphy. Earliest documented use: 1801.

NOTES:

The word arose from the sailors' habit of gathering around the scuttlebutt on a ship's deck. Things haven't changed much with time. Now we have watercooler gossip in modern offices.

USAGE:

"Here's a roundup of iPad 3 rumors, with a little context as to whether you should believe the scuttlebutt or not."
Matthew Shaer; iPad 3 Rumors; The Christian Science Monitor (Boston); Dec 14, 2011.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: