# To Hear Through The Grapevine



## RhoKappa

This expression usually refers to gossip, where the informant wishes to conceal the identity of his source to the listener.  Here are some examples.

1. Sergei asks Lena, "I heard through the grapevine that you might be pregnant."
2. Yuri tells Roma, "Tanya is very beautiful, but I heard through the grapevine that she had some plastic surgery."

Как сказать по-русски?


----------



## Rosett

Сорока донесла/на хвосте принесла.


----------



## rusita preciosa

Сарафанное радио 
ОБС (Одна Баба Сказала)


----------



## Maroseika

I think more common expressions nowadays (at least in the context of your examples) are:
*ходят слухи, что*; *
говорят, что; 
поговаривают, что.*


----------



## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> I think more common expressions nowadays (at least in the context of your examples) are:
> *ходят слухи, что*; *
> говорят, что;
> поговаривают, что.*


You can also say: "прошёл звон/цинк".


----------



## Maroseika

Rosett said:


> You can also say: "прошёл звон/цинк".



I'm afraid this is too slangy, at least in the given contexts (and this is not youth slang, but plain thieves' cant).


----------



## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> I'm afraid this is too slangy, at least in the given contexts (and this is not youth slang, but plain thieves' cant).


Nowadays, use of цинк is common in Internet news blogs. Звон is a long time acceptable urban idiom.


----------



## Maroseika

Rosett said:


> Nowadays, use of цинк is common in Internet news blogs. Звон is a long time acceptable urban idiom.



Sorry, can't agree with you. There are many acceptable idioms, but they all are strongly context dependable. The given context is not blogs of specific nature, but live neutral talk. 
I would not recommend using any of these idioms without perfect grasp of all the stylistic variations of Russian language.


----------



## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> Sorry, can't agree with you. There are many acceptable idioms, but they all are strongly context dependable. The given context is not blogs of specific nature, but live neutral talk.
> I would not recommend using any of these idioms without perfect grasp of all the stylistic variations of Russian language.


Just a few examples:

Тут такой _*цинк прошёл*_, что Майкл Джексон не умер, он просто всех обманул! 
И плюс тут _*цинк прошёл*_, что город будут брать штурмовые группы...
Такой _*прошёл цинк*_, не дословно, но смысл такой, лично слышал от третьего лица в одном московском заведении!!!

Николь, — уточнила Дина. — _*Прошёл звон*_, что ей больше нравится женское общество.
По деревне _*прошёл звон*_, если вы меня понимаете. Хелен учтиво наклонила голову. Прожив в деревне большую часть своей жизни, она прекрасно ...
Но _*звон прошёл, что*_ у него искали какие-то документы. - Тьфу! – Сабина мотнула головой. - Вот и я про то же.

You can see that various contexts allow for that.


----------



## Maroseika

Rosett said:


> Just a few examples:



One can find in the Internet whatever he wants and more. Instead of browsing thru the Internet I suggest to listen other opinions: to what extent this slangy and/or stylistically colored expressions sound natural in the neutral talk about neutral things. 
Let's rely on the language experience of real natives rather than on the first example to hand.


----------



## Enquiring Mind

Just as a matter of interest, and as a variation on the *ходят слухи, что ... *suggestion proposed in #4, Marvin Gaye's song "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" has been translated as "До меня дошли слухи, что ..."

До меня дошли слухи, что за игру нужно будет платить ежемесячно. (source: forum.tera-online.ru)
До Путина дошли слухи, что продукты стали исчезать в магазинах ... (source: anekdot.ru)
Видимо, до нового главы современного олимпийского движения дошли слухи о том, что далеко не все жители Казахстана горят желанием ... (source: change.org)


----------



## armruseng

Слышал краем уха

Слышал краем уха, что ты беременна.
Таня очень красивая, но поговаривают, что она сделала пластическую операцию.


----------



## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> One can find in the Internet whatever he wants and more. Instead of browsing thru the Internet I suggest to listen other opinions: to what extent this slangy and/or stylistically colored expressions sound natural in the neutral talk about neutral things.
> Let's rely on the language experience of real natives rather than on the first example to hand.


All of the above looks real, improvised. "Звон" examples are taken from book sources.


----------



## Maroseika

Rosett said:


> All of the above looks real, improvised. "Звон" examples are taken from book sources.



The source makes no difference. What does make difference is the context, provided by the topic starter. We are here to suggest him Russian expressions applicable in the given context. Do you really and seriously mean he may say to his friend (and sound natural whoever he and his friend are): Таня очень красивая, но прошел звон, что она сделала пластическую операцию.

Language is abundant with synonymous words and expressions, but most of them differ stylictically. Some of them are neutral, others are stylistically coloured. And although they all are the integral part of the language, but each one can be used naturally only in the specific context. Otherwise they sound unnatural. 
Only natives can "feel" or know from their language experience what style is acceptable in the context, but those who are only learning the language - they can't. Suggesting them not neutral variants without any reference how and when they can be used, we do them an ill service. Instead of the help, we deceive and mislead them.
*
This is immutable for all of us here - always explain how to use any word or expression which are not neutral, or at least specify they are not neutral. *


----------



## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> The source makes no difference. What does make difference is the context, provided by the topic starter. We are here to suggest him Russian expressions applicable in the given context. Do you really and seriously mean he may say to his friend (and sound natural whoever he and his friend are): Таня очень красивая, но прошел звон, что она сделала пластическую операцию.
> 
> Language is abundant with synonymous words and expressions, but most of them differ stylictically. Some of them are neutral, others are stylistically coloured. And although they all are the integral part of the language, but each one can be used naturally only in the specific context. Otherwise they sound unnatural.
> Only natives can "feel" or know from their language experience what style is acceptable in the context, but those who are only learning the language - they can't. Suggesting them not neutral variants without any reference how and when they can be used, we do them an ill service. Instead of the help, we deceive and mislead them.
> *
> This is immutable for all of us here - always explain how to use any word or expression which are not neutral, or at least specify they are not neutral. *


The OP's book examples are all spinned out of thin air, honestly, if we talk Russian. Would you take seriously men talking in such refined way about women in the given contexts?
OK, Sergei asks Lena, "Прошёл звон, что ты залетела/попала".
 2. Yuri tells Roma, "Таня выглядит на миллион, но прошёл звон, что она делала подтяжки". It's all bluntly scornful, indeed.


----------



## armruseng

Rosett, мне кажется в бытовом обращении чаще всего используют "говорят". "Прошёл звон" и "прошёл цинк", на мой взгляд, выглядят слишком натянуто для употребления в общении с хорошо знакомым человеком. Такими фразами чаще всего пользуются подростки, пытаясь самоутвердиться в своей среде.

А на улице (не от подростков) я бы скорее всего услышал что-то вроде:

Сергей Лене: "Ты чё, залетела, говорят?"
Таня ничего так, но она, вроде говорят, подтяжки делала.

PS пунктуация интуитивная, я не лингвист))


----------



## Maroseika

Rosett said:


> The OP's book examples are all spinned out of thin air, honestly, if we talk Russian. Would you take seriously men talking in such refined way about women in the given contexts?
> OK, Sergei asks Lena, "Прошёл звон, что ты залетела/попала".
> 2. Yuri tells Roma, "Таня выглядит на миллион, но прошёл звон, что она делала подтяжки". It's all bluntly scornful, indeed.



Rosett, examples of the topic starter can be as arbitrary as is wished, but once proposed, they are quite concrete. "To be pregnant" and "she is beautiful" are stylistically neutral and therefore cannot be translated by use of colloquial or slang words and expressions. Otherwise we disservice to the topic starter and to all those who will ever refer to this thread to check the meaning or the words usage.


*In conclusion: **
Our forums are the supplement and extension to the dictionaries of  WordReference, and as such, must provide full and precise infomration  about words.
If someone is suggesting a word or expression, stylistically differing from the original, it is necessary to explain the stylistic difference as accurately as only possible.*


----------



## armruseng

Думаю, само понятие идиомы косвенно подразумевает, что её нельзя точно перевести на другой язык. Можно подыскать близкий аналог, либо (что, по-моему, даже предпочтительней) заменить её на выражение более характерное в описываемой ситуации в языке назначения.

Опираясь на толкование этой идиомы в Оксфорде (used to refer to the circulation of rumours and unofficial information), могу предложить след. варианты:

Ленка, дошли слухи, что ты залетела. Это правда?
Таня, вроде, ничего, но, кажется, она — чудо пластической хирургии, судя по слухам.

Один мой знакомый любит говорить "По телевизору сказали..."

По телевизору сказали, что ты беременна.
По радио передавали, что Таня сделала пластическую операцию.


----------



## Kirill V.

Nadin Davis said:


> To hear through the grapevine-
> мой любимый аналог-
> "Земля полнится слухом"
> 
> - Земля полнится слухом, что у нас будет новый менеджер.
> 
> - I heard it through the grapevine, we are getting a new manager.


Hello, Nadin!
I personally wouldn't say that, especially when talking about a possibility of a new manager to be appointed.  This seems to be a too local problem for such a "global" interpretation of "_I heard it through the grapevine"_

_I heard it through the grapevine, we are getting a new manager._ = _Я слышал/слышала, что у нас будет новый менеджер._

_Земля полнится слухами, что что Украина может перейти на евро_.  - in this context it sounds more appropriate to me


----------



## Rosett

"Земля слухом полнится" is a big wholesome saying, a maxim, and not a colloquial idiom, banality, as in the OP, unless used and taken sarcastically on purpose.


----------

