bush telegraph
- noun
- /bʊʃ ˈtɛlɪɡræf/
- UK
:
telégrafo de rumores
- Before the official memo arrived, everyone already knew via the bush telegraph.
Examples
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Rumors about the company’s future spread quickly through the bush telegraph in the office.
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He heard the news about the promotion through the bush telegraph.
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The news spread quickly through the bush telegraph.
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Did you hear about the promotion through the bush telegraph?
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Everyone in the village learned the shocking news through the bush telegraph before it was officially announced.
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She found out about the company merger through the bush telegraph, as her friends had already discussed it.
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The bush telegraph in our neighborhood helped spread the word about the upcoming event very quickly.
Synonyms
27
7.8
Rumors people tell each other about events or people
27
3.5
Rumor spread by people talking rather than by officials
26
2.6
Information people share by talking to each other
7
4.5
A group or network that spreads gossip and stories not checked for truth
A way news or rumors spread quickly among people
News people share that is not official, often as a rumor
How Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
bush + telegraph
A learner who knows 'bush' (rural area) and 'telegraph' (a means of communication) can plausibly infer a communication network in rural communities, so the core idea of information spreading is accessible. However, the use of 'telegraph' as a metaphor for informal, often oral rumor transmission is somewhat figurative and historically dated, so the precise sense 'informal network for passing on rumors' is not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Bush telegraph comes from country areas where news traveled fast by people talking. The word bush means the countryside and telegraph was used to show fast messages, so bush telegraph means an informal network that passes on 'rumors' or 'news'.