Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Scuttlebutt and sea shanties

 I will tell you straightaway, this post is simply an excuse to include a YouTube/TikTok video of a sea shanty. But first, let's take a look at the nautically-inspired word scuttlebutt.

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Have you heard the latest scuttlebutt? is a phrase one might have heard in the "good old days" when we were able to physically gather around the water cooler at the office. Scuttlebutt, meaning "rumors, gossip or insider news," is scrutinized in this Word Detective post, which notes:

... It’s the sort of talk that stereotypically takes place when office workers encounter each other at the water cooler or coffee machine and trade news and complaints about the latest depredations of management. It’s appropriate that the term "scuttlebutt" is used for this social ritual, because the "scuttlebutt" aboard a sailing ship in the 18th century was, essentially, the ship’s water cooler — a cask of drinking water kept on the deck for use by the crew.  

According to Merriam-Webster, scuttlebutt to describe a water cask was in use by 1805. The rumor-mill connotation didn't spring into being until the early 20th century. For more on scuttle and butt, check this entry of the Online Etymological Dictionary. 

Now, for your listening pleasure, a spirited rendition of the sea shanty "Drunken Sailor"! (Clearly this particular sailor wasn't hanging around the scuttlebutt, unless the water was seriously spiked.)

And since one cannot have too many sea shanties, here is another. :-)