ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Gossip: True or False?

Updated on August 3, 2022
LowellWriter profile image

LA is a creative writer from the greater Boston area of Massachusetts.

A rumor has been spread about you. It happens to be true. Do you admit to it or lie to keep up apearances?

See results

Taking A Risk

As defined by the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, gossip is “a rumor or report of an intimate nature.” Someone who spreads this information is a called a gossip or “a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others.” Do I see the value of either or both? To some extent, I do. Let me explain.

I have found that gossip generally develops from the unveiling of a minor detail, this detail having some truth to it. Whether or not this was our intent, we still allowed a whisker to pop out from the bag. Even though the cat, for the most part, is still in the bag, that whisker is out. This whisker, this bit of information, makes people question what is going on with you.

As the one to see the whisker is rarely a well-meaning person, but, rather, someone who dislikes you and has been waiting to get some dirt on you, a rumor is never a good thing. This person, having done their work, knows what pushes your buttons. They also know who you least want your secrets told to. For their main purpose, I see no value in gossips. Yet, gossips do, unintentionally, allow for some good to come of their malice.

You’ve been walking around with this cat for a while. Though perhaps at first you didn’t mind the extra weight and enjoyed having a secret, its begun to weigh on you. You are always cautious and on guard. You waste your time worrying if someone heard the cat’s mewing or if the cat got out a long time ago and you just didn’t know it. Each time you peek into the bag to make sure the cat is still there, you push someone away. People tend to know when you’re hiding something. If there’s an area of your life that you refuse to talk about or pathetically lie about, it makes people wonder. When people start to wonder about you, you might as well let that cat out because whatever they’ve wondered themselves into believing is usually so much worse than the actual cat.

When gossip starts to circulate, some brave soul, usually one of the people, who you allowed yourself to be close to, calmly confronts you and asks if the rumor is true. You have to decide in the time allotted of a split second whether or not you want to release yourself of this burden and confirm the rumor or if you want to deny it and be the only person who believes your lie. Once a rumor surfaces, no matter how hard you deny it, it never goes away. At this point, what do you have to lose?

On the other hand, there are rumors that are baseless, started by rotten people with cold hearts and sick minds with the sole purpose of harming others. They see a kind, charismatic straight A student with a happy home life and a solid reputation and they decide that this kid needs to be brought down a couple of notches. Where do they begin? What detail do they hack at? Do they spread a rumor that he cheats on every assignment? Do they say that his home life is a front? Perhaps they’ll just go after his favorite teacher. If you can’t hurt the person directly, why not harm the people they care about? While it’s not an exact hit, it will still meet its mark.

Depending on how it is dealt with, gossip can either ruin or save a life. While the truth is often hard to digest, for the person who the rumor is about, this forced openness can be a release from years of stomach pains. Yet, good or bad, the moment a rumor is sent out into the community, life changes. A teacher can lose his job, his words unable to be heard over the whispers of deceitful children and the monotone voice of a boss who never liked him. A parent begins their struggle to accept what they’ve always known about their child thus ending their daydreaming of a “normal” life for them. Gossip builds a road that we all must travel. For some, it a road to becoming the type of person that we’re meant to be. For others, it’s just a road to the next destination.

This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and should not be substituted for impartial fact or advice in legal, political, or personal matters.

© 2009 L A Walsh

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)