Wiktionary:Word of the day/2023/September 19

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scuttlebutt n

(countable, nautical) Originally (now chiefly historical), a cask with a hole cut into its top, used to provide drinking water on board a ship; now (by extension, informal), a drinking fountain on a modern ship. (uncountable, originally US, nautical slang) Gossip, idle chatter; also, rumour. scuttlebutt v (slang) (transitive, rare) To spread (information) by way of gossip or rumour. (intransitive) To chat idly or gossip; also, to spread rumours. Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, a parodic holiday invented in 1995 by John Baur (‘Ol’ Chumbucket’) and Mark Summers (‘Cap’n Slappy’), of Albany, Oregon, USA.

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