Buzz
Sometimes, when people want to keep their sources private, they mention that they 'heard it through the grapevine.'
'I heard through the grapevine that Steve and Betty are getting a divorce,' one might say, or 'I heard through the grapevine that the new restaurant is closing.' By the 1960s, this expression was so widely known that Marvin Gaye released a famous song about it. (We also heard through the grapevine that it was initially recorded by Gladys Knight and the Pips.)
Why the connection to grapevines? What is it about them that links them to spreading rumors and gossip?
There are several theories behind this. According to Grunge, the phrase could trace back to the creation of the telegraph system in the 1800s. To send and receive messages, long telegraph lines were set up on poles across the country, and because these lines resembled those used to guide grapevines, the term 'heard it through the grapevine' was coined to refer to the telegraph system.
The expression gained momentum during the Civil War, when communicating via the 'grapevine' became crucial. However, it was often unreliable, as Confederate soldiers used the grapevine to spread misinformation and confuse Union troops. Over time, it evolved to mean information passed along verbally that may not always be trustworthy.
In 1891, Lieutenant Horace Carpenter wrote about his experience in a Confederate POW camp during the war, where rumors circulated about prisoner exchanges that never happened: 'The ‘grape-vine’ spoke to us of little else. The main feature of this prison telegraph was its complete unreliability. As I remember, it was never correct, even by accident.'
Another possible origin comes from a popular tavern in New York City called The Old Grapevine, frequented by people in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Like many bars, gossip and rumors were common, and it became a place where information could be 'heard.' While it didn’t create the phrase, it may have contributed to its widespread use.
