After being rather snobby about TV phenomenon The Traitors when it was first on (not wanting to jump on the bandwagon, etc., etc.,), I thought I’d give it a go when the second series started. Predictably, I’m now completely addicted. So much so that I’m even watching the Australian version (available on iPlayer). And in the latest episode, the host used the word ‘scuttlebutt’. so I thought I’d investigate what it means.
As a colloquialism, ‘scuttlebutt’ refers to ‘rumours, gossip, or casual conversation about other people’. So you might say ‘After the meeting, the employees discussed the latest scuttlebutt about their manager’s promotion’. So how did this come about? Well, a ‘scuttlebutt’ is actually a nautical term referring to a cask or barrel used to hold drinking water on a ship. Sailors would gather around the scuttlebutt for a drink and to share some gossip. Eventually the term became synonymous with that type of informal and sometimes salacious conversation (‘ooh, did you see what the captain was wearing last night?’, etc.). Scuttlebutt is basically ye olde version of the water-cooler.
The ‘butt’ bit of ‘scuttlebutt’ is the same as ‘waterbutt’ – not bum butt – and refers to a barrel or cask. ‘Scuttle’ comes from the Middle English word ‘skottel’, meaning a small opening or hatch. It’s the same meaning as the verb ‘to scuttle’ i.e. to cut a hole or opening in a ship’s hull to deliberately sink it.
Oh, and if you’re wondering where the bum-butt thing comes from, it’s nothing to do with water or scuttlebutts. It has Germanic origins and can be traced back to the Old English word ‘buttuc’, which meant the end or extremity of something. Who knew?
PS If you like this, head to the word of the week’s Instagram page for more wordy goodness (including videos of my actual face talking about grammar and punctuation – in a fun way, honest).