rumour (U.S. English rumor)
noun

- an unofficial interesting story or piece of news that might be true or invented, which quickly spreads from person to person

(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

---
WORD ORIGIN

Rumour (circa 1374) stems from the Old French rumour and French rumeur, meaning "widespread noise or report and further from the Latin rumor, "noise, clamour, common talk."

An old Chinese proverb warns us to be careful of rumours because "they go in one ear and out many mouths." And the Roman poet Horace reminds us that "Nothing is swifter than rumour." How true that it is today. Instant Internet access, e-mail, texting and social network services such as Twitter can propagate information, both true and false, to hundreds of thousands users in a matter of minutes.

Some rumours circulate until they become "urban myths," another expression for modern folklore. Elvis Presley is apparently still alive for instance. He has been sighted over the years in nearly every city and town in the world from Tokyo to New York.

Bill Gates has been the subject of rumours as well. In 2005, a web site falsely reported that the Microsoft founder had been shot dead in Los Angeles. The story was broadcast on South Korean television, temporarily causing share prices on the South Korean stock exchange to fall by 1.5 percent.

Still, some people believe the truth always prevails. American social commentator Will Rogers put it this way: "Rumour travels faster, but it doesn't last as long as the truth."

---
SYNONYMS

back-fence talk, breeze, earful, fabrication, falsehood, fiction, gossip, grapevine, hearsay, hoax, innuendo, invention, lie, scandal, scuttlebutt, story, supposition, tale, tattle, whisper

---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:

"Reports about the company being sold to an investment firm are simply rumours."