Gossip (while it occurs in pubs) did not originate there - The Anglo-Saxons' term for a "godparent" was godsibb, a compound formed from "God" (just as in modern English godmother, godfather, etc.) and "sibb" aka kinsman (an archaic wordfrom which modern English gets sibling.)  By Middle English times, however, the word had lost a bit of prestige and had come to mean simply "close friend", and by the 16th century it was being used for "one who indulges in idle talk", perhaps because "close friends" divulge secrets to each other, and often then divulge those secrets to others. The modern sense "idle talk" developed from the verb in the 19th century.                                                                                                 Louise Graybiel 7-6-2004

<>Gossip is basically lies, lies and more lies. And the last time I checked, lies ain't cool.
Here's how it starts: People hear a tidbit of information about somebody they may know or not, and they take that info and build a story around it in their heads. Then they tell their friends this info, and their friends add even more false info to the story and spread that around, until the whole school is talking about how Mandy is pregnant with Freddie's kid, when what really happened is Mandy only babysat Freddie's cousin's kid! It sounds so dumb that stuff like that can actually start, but it does.

Gossip gets carried away because talking about other people's crazy, made-up lives is sometimes more fun than talking about reality. But the thing is that it isn't real and it makes people's lives miserable. And once gossip starts there's no stopping it. Gossip and rumors will grow and grow until everybody is talking about everybody else and no one is safe. Remember when two DJs in Texas said that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake had been in a car wreck? The next thing ya know, CNN is reporting that Britney is dead and the popstars' families are freaking out!

Real life is crazy enough without having people make stuff up about you, and vice-versa. There has to be a better way for people to socialize without making up lies.                                             Kids World