# Idioms about rumors



## badgrammar

Hello, I am in great need of some good idioms about rumors...  They can be idioms from any language, concerning the origins and spreading of, or the listening and/not listening to rumors.  Anything of that nature.  

Please put it in the original language with a basic English translation.  I have found many in English already, but none that fit.  I would greatly appreciate any help or contributions!

Thank you so much!!!


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## jazyk

In Portuguese:
Dizem as más línguas que... "Bad tongues say that..."
Dizem por aí que... "They say around that..."
Um passarinho me contou que... "A little bird told me that..."

I hope I didn't mess up this time. This has been happening way too often already.


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## jester.

One in German:

"Böse Zungen behaupten, dass..." - "Bad tongues claim that..."


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## Marga H

In Polish:
Wzięto go na języki. = He is taken on tongues.


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## badgrammar

Thanks All!

But how about anything more on the lines of: "Buy on the rumor, sell on the news", "A groundless rumor often covers a lot of ground.", or "A rumor is one thing that gets thicker instead of thinner as it is spread."


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## Outsider

Portuguese: 
«Quem conta um conto acrescenta-lhe um ponto.»
"Who tells a story adds a point/stop to it."

"Stop" here is the punctuation mark, but I'm not sure if the sentence is meant to be interpreted this way, or in the sense of point=detail, or in both senses.


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## Marga H

Latin: Fama crescit eundo ( Rumor grows up by travelling ) Vergilius


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## Marga H

Polish: Plotka wylatuje wróblem, a wraca wołem. ( Rumor flies out like a sparrow, comes back like an ox. )


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## gigi1

In Greek:
Οι κακές γλώσσες λένε... (Bad languages/tongues are saying...)
Φήμες!!! (It is just rumours (said as don't believe what you heard))
Μου το είπε ένα μικρό πουλάκι. (A little birdy told me)
Φήμες λένε ότι... (Rumours say that...)

In Greek we don't have many idioms about rumours, but about news (that can sometimes be rumours)


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## Marga H

I have found another one: Rumor and lie are brothers. It is proverb from Kenya.I don't know original version.


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## badgrammar

Marga H said:


> I have found another one: Rumor and lie are brothers. It is proverb from Kenya.I don't know original version.



That is perfect, Marga... That is exactly the kind f sentiment I need for what I'm working on.  Another one, along the same lines,is "“Gossip is just news running ahead of itself in a red satin dress.”-Liz Smith

Thank you!  Any others?


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## samanthalee

badgrammar said:


> That is perfect, Marga... That is exactly the kind f sentiment I need for what I'm working on. Another one, along the same lines,is "“Gossip is just news running ahead of itself in a red satin dress.”-Liz Smith
> 
> Thank you! Any others?


How about a Mandarin one, 空穴来风[Wind in an empty cave] (rumor without basis, lots of wind and no substance)


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## CatStar

Hey there,

Well there's one English saying that goes _Empty vessels make the most noise_ that could be applied to those who spread rumours.

In Irish there's one that goes _Is minic a bhris béal duine a shrón_ which more or less translates to _Many a time a man´s mouth broke his nose_....very true!

Cat


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## olivinha

Two more in Portuguese:
Onde há fumaça, há fogo.  Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
A verdade acaba, mas a historia continua.  Truth ends but the story continues. 
O


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## avalon2004

In WWII there was a poster campaign throughout the United Kingdom which contained the message "_LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS_". I suppose that is somewhat related to the subject of rumours, because it was referring to the fact that if idol gossip were to be overheard by the wrong people then important/confidential information could be spread...


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## Bienvenidos

About a very cheap person: 

* Gushníya khouldah khouldah sír kunah.*
God's hungry person (meaning a cheap person) can only be made to feel full by God himself.
*
Ar sozah ki mízud, barish bozímícud.*
Every song she played, he danced for her, meaning that the man who falls for a woman who is trying to cheat him deserves it, for he is an idiot.

I love Persian!  Translates so well, doesn't it?


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## chobalsim

How about these?

Words with no leg go far away.
Words in the day are heard by birds and words at night are heard by mice.

These are my literal translations of Korean idioms.


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## elroy

Bienvenidos said:


> About a very cheap person:
> 
> *Gushníya khouldah khouldah sír kunah.*
> God's hungry person (meaning a cheap person) can only be made to feel full by God himself.
> 
> *Ar sozah ki mízud, barish bozímícud.*
> Every song she played, he danced for her, meaning that the man who falls for a woman who is trying to cheat him deserves it, for he is an idiot.
> 
> I love Persian!  Translates so well, doesn't it?


 What do these have to do with rumors?


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## Marga H

Author: Claire Booth Luce , my try to retranslating (?): Rumor is like false money, honest people don't produce it but can use or give to another people. Maybe you will find the original.


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## Miguelillo 87

In mexican spanish.-

Las  malas lenguas dicen que... (Bad tongues said taht...)

Las lenguas viperinas.- (The snake tongues)

La gente venonosa anda diciendo por ahí.- The poision people said taht)

Un pajarillo me dijo.- A little bird told me

Por ahí me enteré.- In some place  I knew taht...


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## Setwale_Charm

In Russian: _злые языки_ - evil tongues
_распускать сплетни_ - to spread gossip
_судачить_ - to gossip, to talk idly
_Птичка на хвосте принесла..._ - A little bird has brought it on its tail.
_Нет дыма без огня._ - There is no smoke without fire.

Matter of fact, your request seems to be a bit too general to me. It is not quite clear to which field we are to keep ourselves.


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## samanthalee

olivinha said:


> Two more in Portuguese:
> Onde há fumaça, há fogo. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.


Doesn't this means that there is always some truth in rumors?
In Mandarin there is a similar saying, "Without wind, waves will not rise" 无风不起浪 （wu2 feng1 bu4 qi3 lang4)


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## Encolpius

Czech: Zlé jazyky tvrdí, že.... (bad tongues..)
Hungarian: A rossz nyelvek szerint... (according to bad tongues..)

Interesting thread.


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## Mahaodeh

I can only think of a couple in Arabic:
صيت الغنى ولا صيت الفقر = a rumer of being rich is better than a rumer of being poor.
الكلاب تنبح والقافلة تسير = dogs bark but the caravan goes on. Meaning that despite all rumers (assuming they are lies of course) one would continue on his way without being harmed.


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## Dymn

samanthalee said:


> Doesn't this means that there is always some truth in rumors?


I guess so. In *Spanish *you could say with the same meaning: _cuando el río suena, agua lleva_ "when the river makes noise, it brings water".


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## Yendred

In French, in a professional context at least, there is an expression I like:
_Selon Radio Moquette, ... (According to Carpet Radio, ...)_
The metaphor is about the office floors covered with carpet, and the idea that the carpet, if you listen to it (like if you were listening to the radio), would report rumors of events occurring in the company.

Apart from this, we have the similar form to examples given before:
_Les mauvaises langues disent que... (Bad tongues say that...)_

A more childish one is:
_Mon petit doigt m'a dit que... (My little finger told me that...)_
Why the little finger? Apparently it's the only finger that fits into the ear, and can thus be considered as an imaginary informer...
(by the way, in French, the little finger is also called "_auriculaire_" = linked to the ear)


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## bibax

Encolpius said:


> Czech: *Zlé jazyky tvrdí, že*.... (bad _or __malevolent_ tongues _claim, that _...)


I can add:

*Vrabci si cvrlikají, že ...* = _Sparrows twitter (are twittering), that ... (ha, I didn't know what does Twitter mean )_

As many rumours begin with the clause *"Jedna paní povídala, že ..."* _(= "One matron told, that ...")_, we often comment implausible news with *"Jedna paní povídala."* (abbr. JPP), hence *"Agentura JPP"* (= "One Matron Told" News Agency).

In similar context (implausible news) we also say: *podle Radia Jerevan ...* = a_ccording to __Radio Yerevan__ ... (a fictional Armenian radio)_


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## WannaBFluent

Mon petit doigt m'a dit que... = My pinky told me that...


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## Zareza

Nu iese fum fără foc. = No smoke without fire. //  Where there's smoke, there's a fire.

Gura lumii numai pământul o astupă. (Anton Pann - influential Romanian folklorist and collector of proverbs)
People’s mouth (talk/gossip) not even the earth (ground) can stop (occlude).
The mouth of the world only the earth shut up.

Mințile luminate discută idei, mințile mediocre discută evenimente, iar mințile mici discută oamenii. 
Enlightened minds discuss ideas, mediocre minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people.

If you confess your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for telling them to the trees. (Kahlil Gibran)

Whoever hears a gossip, spreads two. (Irish proverb)


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## Yendred

Zareza said:


> Nu iese fum fără foc. = No smoke without fire. // Where there's smoke, there's a fire.



We have the same idiom in French: _Il n'y a pas de fumée sans feu._

Apparently, this common idiom in several languages comes from a Latin proverb by the 1st century B.C. Latin writer Publilius Syrus:
_Nunquam, ubi diu fuit ignis, deficit vapor _(Where there has been fire for long, there's never a lack of smoke)


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