Fashionable Words: Scuttlebutt

[Sometimes words die out of fashion. But sometimes those words are good words, words with a certain appeal that can't be denied forever. Those words should be brought back into fashion, used frequently and used often. These are those words.]






Word:
Scuttlebutt


Definition:  
noun
1.   A cask of drinking water on board a ship; a drinking fountain.

verb
2.   To rumor, gossip.


Origin:
Merriam-Webster claims scuttlebutt isn't a real word, and not in the dictionary.

We all know Merriam-Webster is a damned, dirty liar.

The OED claims 1801 as the birth date for scuttlebutt, born out nautical slang describing readily available drinking water. In turn, scuttlebutt is just a slightly altered version of scuttled, a 1743 nautical term that evolved into scuttled-cask, which evolved into that 1801 scuttlebutt.

American nautical boys are to blame for turning scuttlebutt into a synonym for gossip by 1901, when the word appeared in a random column in the magazine Smoking Lamp. Because when you think linguistic creators, you think of men wearing fancy little navy hats.

In essence, scuttlebutt is the origin for the idea of water cooler talk at work.


Most obscure UrbanDictionary.com definition of scuttlebutt:
Uhh, where to start:

5.   A strip club located in Slidell, Louisiana which is about 30 minutes away from New Orleans. Any one who lives here could tell you that Scuttlebutt is a strip club full of white trash/chunky/nasty chicks. Go to Bourbon St. for a real strip club.

6.   The immense amount of sweat in sweltering heat seen on one's ass.

7.   A deviant sexual act occurring while one partner provides...[Ed.: Yeah, I can't let that be said on this blog]...of the other. The one recieving the stimulation, also known as the "scuttle"...[Ed.: WHOA, no, definitely can't let this be mentioned on this blog]...known as the "scuttled".

The "Scuttled" has the option to [Ed.: Just, wow, nonono---no].

It is HIGHLY offensive to execute a Scuttlebutt without forewarning. [Ed.: That goes without saying.]

9.   The act of a dog dragging its ass across the carpet.


Used in a sentence:
1.   While some believed Chuck was telling the truth about Bob's affair with Mildred, others felt he was just scuttlebutting.


Word Awesomeness Scale (1 to 5):
Five.

Just for the Urban Dictionary definitions alone.